Critiquing BusinessWeek's new Chicago edition

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times critiques the new Chicago-only edition of BusinessWeek and gives the publication a B-.

Lazare wrote, “In many ways, BW Chicago seems to aspire to be a somewhat more magazine-y version of what Crain’s Chicago Business pioneered nearly three decades earlier, and subsequently had plenty of time to polish. The upfront section of the 36-page debut issue includes a page of gossipy biz tidbits mostly gleaned from other sources, along with a page of party pics and a Q&A that features Penny Pritzker answering some pretty mundane queries, such as ‘What are your civic activities.’

“In a magazine that purportedly aims to be very Chicago-focused, we were put off by the inclusion of a page spotlighting the very New Yorky ‘Money Honey’ and CNBC business anchor Maria Bartiromo. She does a quick Q&A with Mayor Daley, who wanders off on a tangent about several thousand kids in local schools learning Chinese — something Daley apparently believes is necessary for Chicago to become a global city. Huh?

“The BW Chicago feature hole includes a cover story about Da Mayor and his corporate connections (overkill maybe?) that isn’t especially revelatory. Another feature about United Airlines is more interesting in suggesting the carrier bungled its protracted bankruptcy, and is now paying a big price for that.”

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