Editor Resigns Over Apparent Ad Pressure

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C|Net says that Harry McCracken, Editor-in-Chief of PC World, resigned Tuesday because of disagreements with the publisher of the magazine regarding stories critical of advertisers.

Three sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CNET News.com that McCracken informed staffers in an afternoon meeting Wednesday that he decided to resign because Colin Crawford, senior vice president, online, at IDG Communications, was pressuring him to avoid stories that were critical of major advertisers.
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Interesting, but how can we verify this? I'm a bit of a cynic so it might just be an attempt to appear noble on his way out the door.

If it's true, good for him. Nice to see some principles. But... we'll never really know.
 
I would like to know which advertisers were involved...
 
Wired News reported Wednesday evening that McCracken quit after Crawford killed a draft story titled "Ten Things We Hate About Apple."
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Does Apple advertise in PC World?
 
This doesn't surprise me at all,never trusted those magazine reviews.They are far too dependent on advertiser dollars.Just one more reason why [H]Consumer will be missed.
 
I think problems like this are one of the signs that say "hey, this magazine should call it quits."

Seriously, instead of being objective, they are all about the $$$.

I can't read magazines like this anymore -- From computer related, to industry related (IT) and even Guitar magazines.

Every article is basically an extended advertisement for whatever the product / technology of the month is. And every other page is a full page ad for something.
 
nunyabiz said:
I call shens, a corporate exec with morals? Come on!
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Difference between a corporate exec and an editor. At least, sometimes there is.

This was why I dropped buying Ziff-Davis publications back in the 90's. Computer Shopper went from a fairly decent magazine to one that could only manage to call a horrible product "average" or "If you can look past these flaws, it may be the right choice for you".

I applaud any editor that would resign for this reason. And it ensures me not purchasing PC World.
 
Geez, just how toothless does the editorial content need to be in order to please today's advertisers? I mean, we're talking about PC World here, right? I don't recall ever being able to count on them for a product review.
 
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