Assessing the potential sale of BW

Nat Ives of Advertising Age writes Monday about the pros and cons of buying BusinessWeek, which was put up for sale last week by parent McGraw-Hill. Ives writes, “Forbes and Fortune each rely on key franchises they can monetize a million different ways, such as the Forbes Global 200 list of the biggest companies and […]

The changes in working conditions

Stephen Baker, a senior writer at BusinessWeek, writes how the magazine put him in a bureau when he was hired in Mexico City and gave him more salary than he asked for. That will likely change if the magazine is sold. Baker writes, “Looking back, I understand that it seemed vital for BusinessWeek’s stature at […]

The reasons behind BusinessWeek's ails

Belinda Luscombe of Time magazine takes a look at the business journalism sector in the wake of the announcement this week that BusinessWeek was for sale. Luscombe writes, “Moreover, it’s highly likely that McGraw-Hill, unlike Forbes or Time Inc., does not see running a consumer magazine as a core business. What McGraw-Hill does best is […]

McGraw-Hill making big mistake by trying to sell BusinessWeek

Diane Mermigas writes on Bnet.com why she thinks that McGraw-Hill should hold onto BusinessWeek magazine instead of trying to sell it. Mermigas writes, “It’s trying to sell BusinessWeek as a cohesive branded entity that should command a premium price based on posterity, when in fact its content is the real prize. But selectively packaging and […]

A BusinessWeek staffer offers his advice on fixing the magazine

Stephen Baker, a senior writer at BusinessWeek, offers some suggestions on how to improve the magazine now that it’s for sale, noting that he spent the bulk of his time this week on the “final 5 percent” — or tweaking and polishing an article right before it goes to print. Baker writes, “The  future (or […]

What's really wrong with BusinessWeek

Former BusinessWeek staffer Gary Weiss responds to Fast Company co-founder Alan Webber‘s solutions for what ails the business glossy now up for sale with his own analysis of the situation. Weiss writes, “Webber says ‘Most of all, BW needs to create a franchise.’ Excuse me? BW had a franchise before Adler came on board, and […]

The decade-long decline in advertising for business magazines

Nat Ives of Advertising Age writes about the decline in advertising that has occurred among the three big business magazines during the past decade. Ives writes, “A look at each title’s first-half ad pages over the last 10 years shows the affect of the prior boom and bust, along with this year’s sharp declines, but […]

How to fix BusinessWeek

Alan Webber, one of the co-founders of Fast Company magazine, writes on Huffington Post about how he would fix BusinessWeek magazine, which is now for sale. Webber writes, “A rejuvenated BW could be the American answer to The Economist. It wouldn’t report the news — instead, it would interpret it, coverage off the news rather […]

For less than the cover price, you could own BusinessWeek

Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson of The Financial Times writes that the price to acquire BusinessWeek may be as low as $1. Edgecliffe-Johnson writes, “Industry members and bankers said Time Warner’s Time Inc, publisher of Fortune, or Forbes would be unlikely to bid for a rival facing similar challenges to themselves. Condé Nast closed Portfolio , a glossy […]

McGraw-Hill statement on exploring sale of BusinessWeek

Jon Fine, who covers the media industry for BusinessWeek, has the statements from the magazine’s parent company and the magazine’s president about exploring a sale of the glossy. In an e-mail to BusinessWeek employees, BusinessWeek President Keith Fox said, “We all know that the media industry is facing unprecedented challenges. The growth of digital innovation […]