Bloomberg Businesweek working on its comeback

Eric Starkman, who runs a New York-based public relations firm, writes Monday about what he thinks of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine as run by editor Josh Tyrangiel.

Starkman writes, “As well, some of BW’s articles of late appeal more to stereotypical ‘dude’ sensibilities than individuals looking to gain some business insight.  For example, the magazine ran a cover story in February about Ashley Madison, a niche website that provides a venue for men and women looking to cheat on their spouse.  The article’s only particular insight was the owner of the site purports to be the consummate family man.  The magazine has also recently run articles on the ‘business’ of cougars and lingerie football, and profiled a small 15-store lingerie chain specializing in custom-fitting bras.  It’s hard to take seriously a business magazine that refers to Victoria’s Secret as the ‘Goldman Sachs of ladies underwear.’

“I’ve long maintained that mainstream journalism’s declining influence stems from the repeated promotion of failed editors and journalists writing stories to impress each other rather than the readers they serve.  Underscoring my point, Stephen Adler, the former BW editor, in February was named editor-in-chief of Thomson Reuters, an even bigger news organization.   Fortunately, Mr. Adler just hired former Dow Jones executive Paul Ingrassia, one of the few business journalists with a successful leadership and management track record, to serve as his deputy.

“As for Tyrangiel, if he wants BW and the impressive editorial team he oversees to garner the respect they rightfully deserve, it might behoove him to spend more time focusing on the stories truly shaping the economy and the business of business.  Leave the “dude”-esque stories to publications like Maxim.”