Comments on: Reinventing BusinessWeek

By: The Changing Face of Journalism or Fixing BusinessWeek | One By One Media

The Changing Face of Journalism or Fixing BusinessWeek | One By One Media — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:35:07 +0000

[...] Jeff Jarvis however, this seems to me to be quite an asset and something that could and should be fixed or in another [...]

By: Marco

Marco — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:26:19 +0000

Fortune, Forbes, and Business Week are all doing poorly; The Economist isn’t, but only their Business section overlaps; and even that section is more global than any of the others.

I think what ails these magazines is that they’ve failed to evolve. The web has evolved into niche content. I read TechCrunch to get my daily tech news, Science Daily to get my science fix, and Infectious Greed to get my finance drivel. (I read many more, but this sampling should suffice). What each of these gives me is a real-time, in-depth (sometimes at least) analysis of events from a unique (read: you know where the author is coming from) perspective.

The magazines give me a sanitized view, which ends up being a rather drab, delayed summary of events.

Interestingly, the Economist which is still doing comparatively well, doesn’t aim to provide an ‘objective’ view … I often find myself in total agreement with the author … can you think of a better way to get someone to keep reading your content? (Yes, I disagree a lot too, but I still read it.)

The truth is that all news is subjective, every person interprets events differently, by trying to report ‘objectively’, you lose lessen the appeal.

Jeff, do you think you’d have even 1/2 the readership you do, if you were providing us with drab objective updates on the “service challenges you encountered after your purchase of a Dell computer”?

By: The Vision Thing and the Crowd Thing « Kadet Communications

The Vision Thing and the Crowd Thing « Kadet Communications — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:01:44 +0000

[...] Vision Thing and the Crowd Thing I was reading Jeff Jarvis’ post reacting to the news that BusinessWeek is up for sale, and it got me thinking. It seems to me [...]

By: MixedRealities :: What is your take on social media micro-ventures?

MixedRealities :: What is your take on social media micro-ventures? — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:21:03 +0000

[...] Reinventing BusinessWeek (BuzzMachine) [...]

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:51:35 +0000

A really novel approach might be to get some insight from a handful of business school grads – instead of relying on their Columbia University School of Journalism types – a basic explanation of the upside of free-market capitalism might just sell a few subscriptions.

By: Hey

Hey — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:19:51 +0000

It’s been BusinessWeak for far too long. It also seemed to be a biusiness magazine written by people who despise business. Kind of like The Guardian’s (and NYT’s) business sections.

I’m shocked that anyone would keep the BW sub for the analysis, but then RonK is keeping Fortune too, so I guess our definitions of analysis are different. The mag has been very Time ish – written at a grade 2 level for those who are shocked that Porter or bonds exist.

As someone who has despised their coverage for years, I’m very happy seeing them being flogged for a dollar. Would have preferred all the writers and editors being forced into indentured servitude in a Burmese mine, but the death of the brand is a decent second best option.

Any comments on FT editor’s proclamation that “everyone” will be charging for content in 12 months?

By: Salma

Salma — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:58:34 +0000

That’s true. BusinessWeek needs to find ways to introduce customization for its wise crowd

By: Bob Wyman

Bob Wyman — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:51:10 +0000

Business Week should consider focusing more on journalism and less on self-publishing. Consider combining online with existing non-business national news media and becoming their “business section.” Consolidated distribution is the key to building audiences large enough to effectively and efficiently monetize.

bob wyman

By: links for 2009-07-17 « Jon Bernstein

links for 2009-07-17 « Jon Bernstein — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:07:39 +0000

[...] Reinventing Business Week Jeff Jarvis (tags: Business_Week Business_Model Magazines) [...]

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:40:20 +0000

Since it is ‘BusinessWeek,’ and objective journalism seems dead, one idea would be to give at least 2 sides to each business story.

Another idea would be to actually laud business; ideas, ethics, new org charts, trends, etc. You know, measurable, tactical, helpful content for the business person.

By: AnnB

AnnB — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:52:37 +0000

Interesting that you bring up the 5% theory on the same day as aversion to mistakes and failure because despite all that expensive 5% effort, everyone who’s worked in magazines knows that mistakes will always get through. I remember being called on the carpet by publishers to explain how we got the location of Company X’s headquarters wrong or some similar error. When my explanation was a variation on “Shit Happens,” I was none too popular. The funny thing was readers never seemed to mind if you just owned up to the mistake.

By: Rob K

Rob K — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:35:59 +0000

Interestingly, I am a very web saavy business news consumer who has cut the daily newspaper, but I remain a subscriber to Business Week and Fortune. It is for me, more about the analysis than the “news.”

By: Web Media Daily – July 16, 2009

Web Media Daily – July 16, 2009 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:24:36 +0000

[...] Reinventing BusinessWeek… BuzzMachine [...]

By: John Caddell

John Caddell — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:20:22 +0000

A thought on the “last 5%”–besides expense and effort, it also introduces a lot of delay. Not a problem in the pre-real-time-Internet days, but a terrible disadvantage now.