InfoWorld closes print magazine
p2pnet.net news:- “Yes, the rumors are true,” posts InfoWorld editor-in-chief Steve Fox.
“As of April 2, 2007, InfoWorld is discontinuing its print component. No more printing on dead trees, no more glossy covers, no more supporting the US Post Office in its rush to get thousands of inky copies on subscribers’ desks by Monday morning (or thereabouts). The issue that many of you will receive in your physical mailbox next week – vol. 29, issue 14 – will be the last one in InfoWorld’s storied 29-year history.”
But, Fox goes on, that doesn’t mean InfoWorld is dead.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he says. “We are merely embracing a more efficient delivery mechanism -the Web – at InfoWorld.com.
He points out the magazined had for several years been posting its entire content online first, “sometimes as early as six days before the print issue arrived anywhere”.
For an editor, “few jobs are as satisfying, especially when the finished product arrives, all shiny and new,” he goes on, but —.
— InfoWorld is a for-profit business and, “I also know how the business works, or in some cases, doesn’t work,” Fox says, going on:
“The ad-driven economic model that supported print magazines for years (publishers deliver a steady stream of highly qualified readers, and advertisers pay for the privilege of putting ads in front of them) is unraveling. Given the alternative, advertisers want more immediate gratification and measureable results than print can afford them.
“On the Web, they can know who and how many people are viewing their message; they can target specific audiences and know exactly what they are getting. They can engage potential customers directly in ways print magazines never allowed. There’s no more guesswork.”
Oh.
Meanwhile, “I expect other trade publications will be following InfoWorld’s lead soon enough,” declares Fox, adding:
“Some things shouldn’t change, however: The basic principle of separation of church and state – that advertisers must not influence what editors say, write, or cover – is still sacrosanct.”
We’re sure Fox means every word. However, sadly, he may an exception to a rule that in 2007 is being broken more times than it’s adhered to.
Also See:
InfoWorld – InfoWorld folds print mag to focus on online and events, March 26, 2007
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