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Friday, October 25, 2002 Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · Advanstar Communications Inc. has announced the appointment of Rob Frais to Publisher, Cadalyst magazine. In this position, Mr. Frais will direct the entire workings of Cadalyst including editorial, design, advertising, marketing, and revenue. Cadalyst, a monthly publication, provides in-depth editorial for designers, engineering managers, and corporate managers involved in computer-aided design (CAD), engineering (CAE), and manufacturing (CAM) technologies. Frais was previously president of Elmo Motion Control, a manufacturer of amplifiers and drives for servomotors; a partner at RF Associates, a planning business with European automation companies; and founder and president of Baumer Electric Ltd. Since March 2001, Mr. Frais has served as Publisher of Sensors magazine. · Mitchell L. Henderson, Publisher of World Trade Magazine, announced that he will be assuming the role of Publisher of World Trade Magazine. He is also promoting Carol Eidson to Associate Publisher. · American Lawyer Media (ALM), a journalism and information company, announced the appointment of Charles Carter as editor of The National Law Journal. Carter currently serves as managing editor of the weekly newspaper and succeeds Robert Ambrogi, who resigned in July. · E Ink Corporation, a developer and marketer of electronic ink technology, announced the appointment of Kenneth A. Bronfin, president of Hearst Interactive Media, to its board of directors. · Patrick Hagerty has joined Newsweek Magazine as Associate Publisher, Director of U.S. Sales, Worldwide Publisher Greg Osberg announced Monday. Hagerty comes to Newsweek from Primedia, Inc. where he was Senior Vice President since May 2001, overseeing the sales and marketing staffs for PRISM-Primedia Integrated Sales and Marketing. At Newsweek, Hagerty will oversee the U.S. sales offices. · TheStreet.com, Inc., a provider of financial analysis and news, announced that James Lonergan, the company's chief operating officer, has been named president and chief operating officer. Mr. Lonergan will assist in driving TheStreet.com's business strategy and continue to direct the Company's daily operations, overseeing all activities in several key operational areas, including sales and marketing, product development and technology. He will continue to report directly to Thomas J. Clarke Jr., TheStreet.com chairman and CEO. Before joining TheStreet.com in February 2001, Mr. Lonergan served as chief operating officer at Worldly Information Network. · The New York Times announced that John Darnton will become associate editor for special projects and Steven Erlanger, Berlin bureau chief, will succeed him as cultural news editor. John Darnton, 60, became cultural editor in 1996. Previously, he served as London bureau chief since 1993. Darnton is the author of three novels: Neanderthal, about the discovery of primitive protohumans; The Experiment, about cloning; and Mind Catcher a thriller about human consciousness. Mr. Erlanger, 50, became The Times's Berlin bureau chief in 2001. Previously, he had been bureau chief for Central Europe and the Balkans, based in Prague, since 1999 after having served as chief diplomatic correspondent, based in Washington, since 1996. · MediaBay, Inc., a company specializing in spoken audio content, announced that Hakan Lindskog, President and COO of MediaBay, Inc., will also become CEO of MediaBay, Inc., replacing current CEO, Michael Herrick, effective January 1, 2003. Michael Herrick will remain as a member of the Board of Directors and will become a consultant to the Company effective January 1, 2003. Hakan Lindskog, 42, joined the Company in June 2000 as COO of the Company and CEO of its Audio Book Club division and became President of MediaBay in November 2001. Prior to joining MediaBay, Mr. Lindskog was Group Executive Vice President and COO of International Masters Publishers Group. Digital Publishing · Audible, Inc. announced a relationship with MSN in which premium content and access to Audible.com's Internet audio information service will be available to consumers who subscribe to MSN 8. Two free audiobooks from Audible.com, worth up to $100 depending on the titles selected, will be offered as part of the upcoming MSN 8 subscription service. Content Deals · The New York Times Company and The Washington Post Company announced that they have signed a letter of intent for the Times Company, a fifty percent owner of The International Herald Tribune newspaper, to purchase the Post Company's fifty percent share in the IHT. The IHT headquarters is located in Paris. The closing is expected to occur after a definitive agreement is reached between the two companies and all regulatory approvals have been obtained, which would likely be in late 2002 or early 2003. · NYTimes.com announced that it has relaunched its travel section with online booking capabilities from Trip.com, destination content from Fodor's and free access to New York Times travel articles dating back to 1996. NYTimes.com/travel also offers photographs from Lonely Planet Images. · Vivendi Universal has decided to enter into negotiations with the Lagardere group to sell it the publishing businesses in Europe and Latin America of Vivendi Universal Publishing (VUP). The plan is for the Natexis-Banque Populaire to make the acquisition on behalf of Lagardere. It would then sell Lagardere the VUP assets once agreement is obtained from the antitrust authorities. The sale would be carried out on the basis of an enterprise value of E1.25 billion and include VUP's general literature, reference and educational publishing activities, excluding Houghton Mifflin. As to Houghton Mifflin, Vivendi Universal is examining the possibility of starting the disposal process again in order to be able to open it up to a higher number of potential acquirers. Launches and Redesigns · The Walt Disney Company and Microsoft Corp. have joined together to deliver Disney on MSN, a co-branded Internet service that combines the new MSN 8 software with Disney content. The service provides dial-up Internet access and combines the parental controls and all the other features of the MSN 8 service with age-appropriate start pages for children that have Disney content, as well as a separate start page for adults with the MSN 8 home page. Disney on MSN subscribers also will receive a free subscription to Disney's Blast, a premium online content service for kids that provides nearly 100 educational and entertainment features, and a free subscription to Disney Adventures magazine. · RollingStone.com, a music news magazine, has unveiled a new design. To celebrate this event, RollingStone.com is hosting the exclusive world premiere of multimedia material from Stripped, the forthcoming album from Grammy award winner and multi-platinum singer Christina Aguilera. RollingStone.com's updated look integrates many of the new features and visual elements of Rolling Stone magazine's recent redesign. In addition to improvements to make the site easier to read and navigate, RollingStone.com has greatly expanded its collection of celebrity photos, and movie, CD and DVD reviews. RollingStone.com will also be incorporating content from its GetMusic.com sister site, including a library of popular music videos. · CMP Healthcare Media, a resource for health information and education, announced the launch of MEDReach, a communications and marketing company serving the pharmaceutical industry. MEDReach will work with CME, Inc., its sister company and an independent provider of continuing medical education, to coordinate non-accredited and accredited educational and informational initiatives, including customized meetings, multimedia products, Web programs, teleconferences and publications. · Gimpsy is a new search engine offering an unique approach to web searching. Unlike traditional search tools that require manipulation of keywords and phrases, Gimpsy provides a natural language search facility. Gimpsy understands requests like "Buy computer books", "Chat about wrestling", "Play a space simulation game", "Download shareware screensaver for Windows" or "Write to Santa". A team of editors hand select every site to ensure that it meets Gimpsy's strict inclusion criteria. "Of course this is a long and laborious task, but it's the only way to achieve the high standards we set ourselves." says Mordechai Chachamu, the founder and CEO of The Parity Bit Ltd., the company that owns and develops Gimpsy. · America Online, Inc. announced the launch of a new Homework Help Center that features live teacher help with more than 1,000 volunteer tutors, a knowledge database with answers to more than 10,000 homework questions and access to a wide selection of reference materials including the World Book Encyclopedia, Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus, almanacs and study notes on popular books. Homework Help is available on AOL's Research & Learn Channel as well as through AOL Keyword: Homework Help. Miscellaneous · Bonnie Fuller, Editor-in-Chief of Us magazine, has been named "Editor-of-the-Year" by Advertising Age. Fuller is the first ever two-time winner of Ad Age's "Editor-of-the-Year" award. The affirmation follows the extraordinary upsurge she has affected since joining the magazine in March of this year. · The Oxygen Network and The Knot, a wedding website, have partnered to bring the real stories behind real weddings to the television screen with a set of specials that will anchor Oxygen's Weddings Week (January 20 - 26, 2003). Filmed in reality style, Real Weddings from The Knot follows six couples in the weeks leading up to their trips down the aisle. · Japan-based videogame publisher Kemco and comic book publisher DC Comics announced that they will create a limited edition, two-part comic book that will serve as a prequel to the storyline of Kemco's upcoming action/adventure title, Batman: Dark Tomorrow. The first of two collectible comic books will be included as a pack-in within top-tier platform-specific enthusiast publications, distributing over 1.4 million comic books nationwide. The comic pack-in for each of the publications will have a cover created exclusively for that magazine. The second, digest-size comic book will be included in the retail game package and limited to the first production run of the game, and will feature a custom cover for each of the three platforms. Batman: Dark Tomorrow is the first modern Batman video game to date based not on the movie or animation series, but on the original DC Comics comic book. Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2011 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
