The Industry Standard GROK Debuts

Posted on August 11, 2000

Standard Media International, publisher of the two-year-old Industry Standard magazine, has released the premier issue of The Industry Standard GROK, its special reports publication that focuses on key growth sectors of the Internet Economy.

A supplement to The Industry Standard magazine, GROK will automatically be sent to The Industry Standard's 150,000 subscribers and will be sold at newsstands for $4.95 per copy. Each issue of GROK will tackle a different area of business and the Internet, with the September premier issue focusing on entertainment. The October issue will explore education, while November is slated for wireless. Other planned topics include retail, travel and transportation, health and medicine, and financial services.

``We created GROK in response to readers' overwhelming interest in The Industry Standard's special reports and their desire for in-depth analysis of the way the Internet is affecting various sectors of the economy,'' said GROK Editor Bob Cohn. ``With GROK, we can provide a more thorough examination of the issues -- offering everything from feature stories to metrics coverage to short takes on the trends in the news.''

``Grok,'' which means to thoroughly understand and absorb what is happening and why, has become identified with the company's brand: Three of The Standard's online newsletters are ``Media Grok,'' Stock Grok,`` and ''Shop Grok.`` Contributors to the launch issue of The Industry Standard GROK include Bernard Weinraub of The New York Times, Kara Swisher of The Wall Street Journal, and Kim Masters of Inside.com -- plus a range of journalists from The Industry Standard.