Categories: OLD Media Moves

Why BusinessWeek will survive

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

A lot had been written and said in the past two weeks about BusinessWeek, which has been put up for sale by its parent company, McGraw-Hill.

Some have even predicted that the company will be unable to sell the money-losing weekly and will end up closing it.

Here’s five reasons why I think it will not close and will be one of the survivors:

1. The top editors have been proactive in trying new strategies. While some people have criticized editor Stephen Adler, he does recognize that the industry is undergoing a dramatic change and has been reacting to that. Plus, he’s got John Byrne as his right-hand man. Byrne has been one of the most innovative people in online business journalism in the past decade. Yes, Adler has made mistakes. But at least he’s willing to try new things. I look at Forbes and Fortune and see too much that reminds me of the 1990s.

2. The magazine’s Web site doesn’t just replicate what’s in print. Yeah, sure, a lot of business magazines put extra content on their site, but BusinessWeek puts more than anyone else, I’d be willing to bet. Its blogs are outstanding, with tons of insights and analysis about industries. It breaks news online as well.

3. Speaking of industries, despite the fact that BusinessWeek has shrunk in the past five years, the core strengths of the publication remain, and they remain strong. The company, technology and finance coverage — the strength of Businessweek for the past 20 years — still brings more to business news junkies every week than any other magazine. The personal finance section is much better than what I see in Forbes and Fortune too.

4. No one in the magazine business does U.S. economics coverage like BusinessWeek. From the columnists to staffers Michael Mandel and Peter Coy, the coverage is prescient and accessible, unlike U.S. economics reporting in, say, The Economist.

5. The brand name. BusinessWeek means authority to a certain type of business reader. It doesn’t scream “celebrity CEO” like Fortune or “mega-rich” like Forbes. It’s an understanding of how the business world works and what that means to people who care about business.

BusinessWeek’s problems are not unique. To get better financially, I’d like to see it start charging for some of its online content, particularly the exclusive stuff.

DISCLOSURE: I worked at BusinessWeek from March 1993 to November 1994 in its Connecticut bureau and remain in touch with a number of staffers, including Byrne and Coy.

View Comments

  • businessweek may survive but not for the reasons you state
    byrne has been the most innovative person online? excuse me have you looked around the web much. then again, this is one of the dullest site around. and what has adler done other than manage a bad redesign

  • and they have a great medical/science writer in Cathy Arnst. it's not always about the guys in the magazine...

  • I agree with Joe. BusinessWeek may survive, but under new stewardship and with a different approach,

    To comment on Steve Baker's blog above: perhaps he can explain what McGraw Hill management did that was wrong. I can't see it. They gave Adler and Byrne latitude, and they failed. No company, no matter how "innovative," can be expected to endure losses year after year.

  • You left out of your analysis that bw suffered from an "Adler Recession" long before the real thing hit. BW fired its most experienced editors in waves of layoffs, replacing them with younger, greener people strictly on the basis of salary. The erosion of the franchise directly led to bw's problems retaining advertisers. Instead of apologizing for inept management you should take a hard look at how their missteps destroyed the magazine.

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