|
|
writenews.com
|
Friday, May 23, 2003 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · Qorvis Communications, LLC announced that David Bass, the deputy publisher of The Weekly Standard, has joined the firm as a managing director. Bass spent the past six years at The Weekly Standard. · Primedia Inc., a targeted media company, announced that Steven Rousseau, has been promoted to Regional Vice President and Managing Director for Advertising Sales for the company's Detroit region. In this new position, Mr. Rousseau will focus on expanding advertising sales and marketing opportunities across Primedia's range of enthusiast magazine and media properties within the Detroit marketplace. Mr. Rousseau will continue to maintain his current responsibilities as Group Advertising Director for Motor Trend and Automobile Magazine. · iVillage Inc., a women's media company, announced that Edward D. Horowitz joined the Company's Board of Directors, effective April 15, 2003. Mr. Horowitz is the former Chairman of e-Citi, the unit of Citigroup created in 1997 to pioneer electronic commerce and financial services strategies. He brings to iVillage expertise in technology, strategy, operations, marketing and economics. · Commonwealth Business Media, Inc. has announced the promotion of Amy Middlebrook to the position of Group Publisher for the company's Directories Division. Formerly Editorial Director for Commonwealth Business Media, Middlebrook has overseen the editorial staff responsible for The Pocket List of Railroad Officials, Official Export Guide, Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts, as well as others since the company's founding in 2000. · Tony Marcano of The New York Times has been named ombudsman for The Sacramento Bee. The ombudsman is a reader advocate, serving as liaison between the public and The Bee. He will begin June 16. Marcano will be leaving his position as an assistant metro editor of The New York Times, where his responsibilities included conceiving and editing projects and editing daily stories. · Penton Media's Electronics Group named company veteran Thomas A. Cooney as publisher of its EE Product News magazine. EE Product News is a monthly magazine circulating to over 116,000 design engineers. Cooney joined Penton in 1989 as a sales representative for New Equipment Digest, a product news magazine for the manufacturing industry. In 1996, he was promoted to national sales manager of EE Product News and most recently served as the magazine's associate publisher. · Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. announced that it has named Brian D. Urban as its new Chief Financial Officer, replacing Paul Haggerty, who had been the Company's Acting Chief Financial Officer since November 2002. Mr. Urban will join the Company on July 1, 2003, and will report to Jeff Shell, Gemstar-TV Guide's Chief Executive Officer. He will be based in Los Angeles. Mr. Haggerty will return to his role as Executive Vice President of Finance at News Corporation. Mr. Urban will be responsible for overseeing all of the company's financial operations including accounting, internal and external reporting, treasury, tax, investor relations, and strategic financial planning activities. Mr. Urban joins Gemstar-TV Guide from Unilab Corporation, where he spent over 10 years in various senior financial roles, most recently as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. · Midway Games Inc. announced that David F. Zucker, 40, has been named chief executive officer and president. Zucker succeeds Neil D. Nicastro, 46, Midway's chairman who has also stepped down as chief operating officer. Nicastro will continue as chairman of Midway's board of directors and will assist the Company in achieving a smooth management transition. Midway did not name a new chief operating officer. Zucker joins Midway from Playboy Enterprises, Inc., where he was president and chief operating officer, overseeing all day-to-day operations. · R.H. Donnelley Corporation, a publisher of yellow page directories, announced that Jenny L. Apker has been appointed Vice President and Treasurer, effective May 26, 2003. Apker will replace Frank M. Colarusso, who will be leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities, following an orderly transition. Apker was previously Assistant Treasurer at Allied Waste Industries, the second largest waste services company in the U.S. Digital Publishing · A new website, The Einstein Archives Online, provides the first online access to Albert Einstein’s scientific and non-scientific manuscripts held by the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The site enables access to the online version of the Albert Einstein Archives Finding Aid, a comprehensive description of the entire repository of Albert Einstein’s personal papers held at the Hebrew University. The site allows viewing and browsing of approx. 3,000 high-quality digitized images of Einstein’s writings, available for viewing in two sizes: a standard resolution image, as well as a high-resolution image for closer inspection. This digitization of more than 900 documents written by Einstein was produced by the Jewish National & University Library’s Digitization Project and was made possible by generous grants of David and Fela Shapell. Content Deals · Sourcebooks, Inc. announced a strategic partnership with Reed Press, the new book publishing arm of Reed Business Information (RBI). As Reed Press prepares to release its first list this fall, they have chosen Sourcebooks, an independent publishing house in Chicago, as its partner in an exclusive distribution deal. In a publishing first for Sourcebooks, the company will perform all sales, marketing and distribution duties for Reed Press. · Acer America Corporation, a supplier of Tablet PCs, and Zinio Systems, Inc., which delivers magazines in digital form for publishing partners, announced that the Acer TravelMate C110 convertible Tablet PC would now ship with the Zinio Reader. The Zinio Reader, enhanced for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, is a free software program that automatically delivers digital magazine content to the users PC. Zinio versions of Business Week, Harvard Business Review, Technology Review and PC Magazine will ship on the TravelMate C110. · Knight Ridder announced it and the Journal Gazette Company have signed an amendment to extend their joint operating agreement in Fort Wayne, Ind., to the year 2050. Under the amended contract, Knight Ridder, owner of The News-Sentinel, will increase its share of the agency from 55% to 75%, while the Journal Gazette Company, owner of The Journal Gazette, will have a 25% share. The joint operating agreement governs the partnership and operation of Ft. Wayne Newspapers, the agency that handles advertising sales, printing, distribution and administration of the two dailies. Launches and Redesigns · Where International, publishers of the Where Magazine network of visitor publications and products, announced plans to launch versions of their upscale, in-room hotel publication, The Essential, in Chicago, New York and New Orleans in 2003. First published in Vancouver in 1987, the success of The Essential led to the expansion into the London and Washington, D.C. markets in 1999 and 2001, respectively. The ongoing success has led to further expansion of the Essential into three new major markets in 2003. The Essential, a luxury magazine for visitors, is published annually and is designed for and distributed exclusively in 4- and 5-star hotels. Targeted at the top 10 percent of travellers, the editorial features high-end fashion, services and attractions that reflect the affluent lifestyles of this exclusive audience. · PC Magazine announced that PCMag.com, its companion website, has launched the first in a series of premium paid downloadable utilities -- PC Magazine Media Console. PC Mag.com, the premier online destination for technology buyers, will provide one new utility per month to users who subscribe to its library of over 130 programs. PC Magazine Media Console provides users who use their PC as an entertainment system with a an easy way to playback video, audio and still images. Packed with powerful applications, PC Magazine Media Console is designed to work with PC remote controls, wireless keyboards and other remote input devices. · Primedia's Shopping Center World magazine has relaunched as Retail Traffic. The premiere issue of the new magazine, whose tagline is "Where real estate, retail and development meet" will reach readers in early May. Retail Traffic's May issue coincides with the annual national convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers in Las Vegas, Where a gala launch party will be held on May 18th. The same evening, Retail Traffic will honor the winners of the 14th annual Superior Achievement in Design and Imaging (SADI) awards, which recognize the retail industry's leaders in design and architecture. The premiere issue features a comprehensive cover package on the future of retail development. It also introduces the new departments including Traffic Reports, an expanded news section and Traffic Patterns, a monthly update on the data that help retailers and developers pinpoint important demographic and business trends. · Royal Media Group has launched Bank Security News, a periodical of insights on corporate and information security matters for bank professionals. The premiere issue of Bank Security News, a bi-monthly newsletter and Royal Media's fifth at the eight-year publishing company, will be offered for a one-year subscription cost of $489. · Lexico Publishing Group, LLC, a provider of language reference products and services on the Internet, announced its newest subscription service, Dictionary.com Premium, a premium online reference service for professionals, students and language lovers. At launch, Dictionary.com Premium includes: ad-free access to the online dictionary and thesaurus; audio pronunciations; color illustrations; and dictionaries of law, medicine and new words. Subscribers also have access to new daily word games, puzzle archives and a crossword dictionary. · Bio-IT World, Inc., a business unit of IDG, has announced the launch of Health-IT World, a twice-weekly electronic publication that will reach 25,000 senior-level technology buyers and influencers at the country's leading healthcare organizations. Premiering on May 20, Health-IT World focuses on how information technology can be used to enhance medical outcomes, increase patient safety, streamline clinical trials and workflow, and improve productivity and payments across the healthcare industry. · IDG Games Media Group, an interactive entertainment information provider and publisher of GamePro and Code Vault magazines, has announced its name change to IDG Entertainment, effective immediately. The new name reflects the overall strategy of the company to focus on the video games market while also establishing a strong presence in all aspects of the entertainment world, including movies, music, online, and more. Miscellaneous · Hyperion announced plans to publish a first-person memoir by singer and songwriter Kris Kristofferson. Kris Kristofferson has been a country music singer, 3-time Grammy Award winner, top athlete, Rhodes Scholar, janitor, Hollywood star and Golden Globe winner, alcoholic, husband, father, Army captain, American Veteran's Association Veteran of the Year and political activist. Perhaps best known as a gifted country music songwriter, Kristofferson's career was launched in 1969 when four of his songs were recorded by artists who made them classics: Sunday Morning Coming Down, Me and Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through the Night, and For the Good Times. The book is scheduled for publication in November, 2005 and Kris will write it himself. · Vivendi Universal Games, Inc. (VU Games) announced that it has entered into a production agreement with Turbine Entertainment Software Corp. to develop Middle-Earth Online, a massively multiplayer (MMP) game to launch in 2004. The game will be developed as part of VU Games' long-term agreement with Tolkien Enterprises to create interactive entertainment based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novel The Lord of the Rings. The 3D role-playing game (RPG) will immerse players in the Middle-earth world Where they will choose their identities from a cast of archetypal Tolkien characters, form kinships, build race-specific dwellings, explore the landscape and craft unique items and weapons. 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 © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
