Editor change at PC Magazine

Dylan Tweney of Wired.com reports Tuesday that Jim Louderback is leaving as editor of PC Magazine and will be replaced by reviews editor Lance Ulanoff.

Tweney wrote, “Louderback confirmed the rumors this afternoon, saying that a press release would be coming out later today. (Disclosure: I used to work on PC Mag’s online arm, reporting to Jim, before coming to Wired News earlier this year.)

“Louderback has been at Ziff Davis for many years, putting in stints at PC Week (now eWeek) and Ziff Davis Internet before PC Mag. As EIC of PC Mag, he oversaw a much-needed revamp of the print design, and a more recent refresh of its home page. He was also in a dustup in April with bigshot PR guy Steve Rubel, who made the mistake of admitting on Twitter that he never reads PC Magazine any more. Louderback took Rubel to task and Rubel had to post an abject apology shortly thereafter.

“I don’t envy Ulanoff his new job. With Ziff-Davis still on the auction block (one division was recently sold to a private equity firm, but the other two divisions — including the consumer division of which PC Mag is a part — are still up for grabs) the current owners are keeping an eagle eye fixated on the bottom line. That means there’s not a lot of money for much-needed investments in the magazine’s web site or other new ventures. And any changes to the magazine are bound to irritate the diehard fans who still make up the core of its dwindling print circulation.”

Read more here.