Re: ONLINE-ADS>> $1,027...the price of

Dana Blankenhorn (Dana.Blankenhorn_at_worldnet.att.net)
Thu, 22 Jan 1998 14:48:43 -0500

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Here's my two cents on the brouhaha over trade journalists.

We're diverse. Some of us are bright and honest, some aren't. The same's
true in the daily press. You're very unlikely to get much intelligence
about Microsoft from a reporter at an Augusta, GA paper whose "business"
beat also includes real estate and the local banks. You're much more
likely to see some "intelligence" in, say Elizabeth Gardner (to cite one
member of this list).

Generally, the longer you're on a beat, the more you learn, and the more
narrowly defined the beat the faster you learn. This is an advantage for
trade press reporters, whose beats are narrow, and who may stay with a
beat for some time, over any reporter for, say, the New York Times.
(Rick Barnes of the Times is a great reporter, much better than me, but
if you want a story on the ins-and-outs of the Microsoft anti-trust suit
I'm the guy, and I'm sure he'd be the first to admit it. And beg off
it.)

You evaluate trade magazines the same way you do other outlets.
Credibility is the coin of the realm. Those without any generally have
low ad rates, but may not have the attention of readers, either.
Internet World (formerly WebWeek) has a strong editor in Robert
Hertzberg who understands the nature of his credibility account. Not all
do.

If you're left wondering when a reporter calls, snag a copy of their
paper and take a look at it. Give them limited insight and see what they
do with it. Evaluate reporters (and papers) individually, in other words
-- don't lump 'em together into big groups, then trust or distrust the
group.

--


Dana Blankenhorn
_at_Have Modem, Will Travel
Publisher of A Clue...to Internet Commerce
http://www.tbass.com/clue       http://www.ppn.org/clue


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