“Colleagues at my former outlet, PC World magazine, have told me that Editor-in-Chief Harry McCracken quit abruptly today because the company’s new CEO, Colin Crawford, tried to kill a story about Apple and Steve Jobs,” Kim Zetter blogs for Wired.
“The piece, a whimsical article titled ‘Ten Things We Hate About Apple,’ was still in draft form when Crawford killed it. McCracken said no way and walked after Crawford refused to compromise. Apparently Crawford also told editors that product reviews in the magazine were too critical of vendors, especially ones who advertise in the magazine, and that they had to start being nicer to advertisers,” Zetter writes.
Zetter writes, “Crawford was former CEO of MacWorld and only started at PC World about a month ago. According to the PC World source, when Crawford was working for the Mac magazine, Steve Jobs would call him up any time he had a problem with a story the magazine was running about Apple.”
“The source didn’t know the specifics of what was in the story Crawford wanted to kill but said it was nothing new. ‘It was supposed to be light fare, just really innocuous stuff. The same kinds of things people have said about Apple before — things that teased Steve Jobs,’ he said,” Zetter writes.
“I reached McCracken on his cell who, from the sound of the background noise, seemed to be leaving the MacWorld party as we talked,” Zetter writes.
Zetter writes, “He didn’t want to discuss the details of why he resigned but said he quit ‘because of some fundamental disagreements with Colin.’ He emphasized that he wasn’t fired or forced out and holds no ill feelings toward the company… He said he actually resigned yesterday, but workers found out only about an hour ago. When asked what he’ll do now he said, ‘I’m going to blog and freelance at least for a while. I’ll probably write for PC World by the way. I want to make clear that I’m a huge admirer of what PC World does and I’m not leaving hoping that PC World will collapse with out me. I’m sure it won’t collapse without me.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Twilightmoon” for the heads up.]
As Zetter writes, a “Ten Things We Hate About Apple” article certainly would be “nothing new.” Sheer boredom. Which is hopefully why Crawford killed the article. (For the record, we’d say the same if it was supposed to be “Ten Things We Love About Apple” — how many of these lame love/hate list articles do we need?) The rest of this blog report contains some stuff that may or may not be related to McCraken’s resignation from an anonymous source that may or may not have an ulterior motive to paint Crawford in a bad light. We also have McCracken’s take on the whole thing, which sounds a lot less conspiratorial than Zetter’s unnamed PC World source.
So, good luck in the future to whomever deserves it.
And, yes, we do still wish that Harry’s name was “Phil” instead.
Hi Phil, Nice to meet you, my name is Ben Dover
whoops. I was thinking of “big ern” ernie mccracken from kingpin…
We have to be really careful here.
For years, we’ve complained about the ‘bias’ shown by publications under the Ziff-Davies umbrella, including PC Magazine and ZDNet.
However, on the basis that two wrongs don’t make a right, it certainly doesn’t bode well for the integrity of an independent media if the editors of IDG media channels can simply be “nobbled” by the CEO of any advertiser (Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, whoever) who doesn’t like what’s being written about them, their company or their products and services.
In any case, CEOs should be CEOs and leave editors to do their job in peace so long as they don’t break the rules of journalistic ethics and bring the name of the parent company into disrepute; if this story is true, that doesn’t seem to be the case at IDG and someone – preferably the non-exec board – should take Crawford to one side and remind him what he’s supposed to do between 9 and 5 every day.
crawford’s a dick and a puppet.
true story:
years ago i had a job with a guy who also worked as a minister. nice fella, great sense of humor. his name was Richard Rashe. he insisted that everyone call him “Dick”.
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i guess he figured that everyone was gonna go there anyway so he just beat ’em to the punch!
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@jamie: you’re thinking of two Irish ones – Fitzgerald is not a Scottish name.
But the Scottish Phil McCrakin had a buddy called Ben Doon.
Phil…I want to introduce you to Ms. Dick….first name Ima.
Jamie…… didn’t they have an irish cousin…Patty O’Furniture?
PC World is run by a Mac Guy? Interesting …
We have a local realtor here in Arcanum, OH named Dick Long… Do I win some sort of prize?!!!
I had a boss (an ass, BTW) called Ian Legge…
…he had a beautiful daughter who they unfortunately called Rhea (pronounced ‘rear’)
Rhea Legge. How cruel.
Sorry, but nothing can ever beat this one:
Dick Swett
(United States Representative for the 2nd Congressional District of New Hampshire, 1991–1995
U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, 1998–2001)
@MCCFR
You are absolutely correct on all points.
But…this story did make me smile a little.
@Dimebag
No you don’t win, I can top that. I worked with a guy named Dick Lovely. No lie.
Some people believe everything they read…
The only one on record in this piece is McCracken and he spoke in glowing terms about the magazine and if Zetter hadn’t been able to contact him, we wouldn’t be reading this story.
McCracken resigned because Crawford TRIED to kill his story? No, Crawford killed two birds with one stone.
Are anonymous PC World sources in this piece even credible?
My daughter graduated with a “Kyrstal Balls”, there are actually laws in some countries that require you get permission from the state before you name a child. There is a movement in this country to do that also.
Never underestimate the power of advertisers and what they’re capable of doing in defense of their most precious asset: the brand.
I’ve expressed my “misgivings” about Apple a few times online in the past and have even received phone calls from Cupertino as a result.
Of course, they’ve never called to say “thank you” for the times I’ve openly expressed my support and endorsement of their company and products. And those far outnumber the “misgivings.”
In this journalist’s case: “You never know whom you really work for.”
worked with a fellow from Enland, Peter Bates, use to piss him off, when at a hotel/meeting/conferance we would have him paged
“Master Bates, you have a call” please pick up the house phone
Crawford did the same thing at MacPublishing… killed any story Apple wouldn’t like. Cheats his readers just like he cheats on his wi…
Don’t give Apple too much credit-or hit PC World too hard on this item. It wasn’t that long ago that Apple tried to put a particular rumors site out of business for publishing advanced product information. I can’t remember which one, but it was the talk of this site for awhile. Also, Apple seems, at times, to sue at the drop of a hat anyone that takes exception to its grand plans. Apple’s legal staff can definately be “Richards” at times.
I’m scared that ChrissyOne hasn’t chimed in already. Is she sick, or just on break now?
@clyde
How you guys get worked up and worried over ChrissyOne just because the name implies a female. You don’t know how many others posting here are female but don’t advertise it in a nickname…. ; )
I knew a woman whose busines card said
C. A. Horni (Miss)
This sort of behavior — where business executives meddle in editorial matters — is one of the reasons why traditional media is in a death spiral and this is NOT a good thing.
If consumers are to be served well by the media, it must be independent to provide a checks and balances system for society, government and business, and there must be a wall between editorial and advertising content. Undoubtedly, this unwarranted interference is why the editor resigned, and rightly so. The story may have been a dumb story, but the CEO is way out of line. This problem will only get worse as formerly independent media outlets are gobbled up by corporations that own multiple businesses.
Seymore Butts could not be reached for comment. In other news, Hue Jass and Hue jardon were singled out and mocked for their name.
Ex Editor-in-Chief Harry McCracken should be thankful. While the advertisers pay the bills, nothing keeps people buying your rag than a truthful review. Look at the auto-mags. Ever see a bad thing written about American cars? NEVER. And they are a trash product.
thanks,
Harden Thicke
To Judge Bork: I think NASCAR’s Dick Trickle might tie that one.