• by John Gaffney , March 31, 2003

Real Media Riffs: The Marvin Gaye Version

What's Going On? Ad Age ran a story yesterday about how the British magazine company Dennis Publishing's "church and state" sensibility is more porous than the cement-bound American model. The Brit model gives a general manager more access to editorial plans and strategy, which is one of the reasons I guess, that Dennis Publishing, among others, has been able to run roughshod through that silly nonsense called words. It gets right to the pictures. And it works. There's nothing British about that really. I worked for London-based Haymarket Publishing on the trade magazine side for two years and found the executives to be totally committed to publishing excellence. Publishing excellence meant attracting eyeballs through a compelling editorial product. That product produced an excellent circulation. That circulation attracted advertising. I think that model has taken some shots lately. What Dennis Publishing and FHM and other "new jack" publishers have been able to do is convince the ad community is that newsstand sales are more important than circulation. They may be right, for now. But the basic equation of product=profit will live on, in my view.

Only Love Will Conquer Hate: It's bad enough we're at war. But you have to wonder about the integrity of Fox's Neil Cavuto when he expands an inflammatory situation in the following manner. After an Ivy League professor wrote to remind him that he should remain objective when reporting on the current Iraqi conflict he responded to said prof: "You're a lie, a fraud and an ingrate. Too clueless to appreciate the country that gives you the right to be the Ivy League intellectual Lilliputian you are. And too selfish to be grateful that in this country, even your type can find work."

And When I Get That Feelin' I Need $800,000: Go on Salon.com. Somebody loves you up there.