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July 16, 1998
No deal
On the front page of its May 17, 1998, edition, The New York Times illuminated a
dangerous and frightening trend, proclaiming "Magazines are bowing to demands for
star treatment." The current state of affairs in consumer publications appears to
require these publications to have exclusive access to a superstar and to put that star on
the cover to guarantee a successful issue; failure to land such a celebrity reduces the
magazine's appeal on the increasingly competitive newsstand.
The result of the competition to land exclusive access to the handful of bankable stars
is that the publications have relinquished their editorial integrity, objectivity, and
credibility. According to the Times, a star may negotiate for the right to approve the
reporter, photographer, photo, artwork, layout, and even the questions the reporter may
ask and the tone of the final article before agreeing to appear on a magazine's cover.
So, what do these observations have to do with electronics-industry publications?
Clearly, celebrity-graced covers aren't the stock in trade of EDN or any of the other
electronics trade publications you may receive. Or are they? The answer depends on whether
any of the publications you receive use their covers to promote new products. Do the
features in the magazine hawk individual products rather than provide broader roundups
with depth and analysis? In many cases, these product-as-celebrity covers are the result
of a cozy, exclusive arrangement between the publication and the manufacturer. Such
arrangements sacrifice your interests for the selfish competitive interests of the
publication and the product's manufacturer.
For example, if a manufacturer is planning to introduce a product, the manufacturer may
arrange with a magazine for an exclusive. The manufacturer offers to give the magazine the
information about its new product a week (or more) ahead of other publications in exchange
for the publication putting the product on the cover and including a staff-written,
single-product feature. The manufacturer wins: It gets prominent coverage and editorial
endorsement in what it perceives to be a respected publication. The selected publication
wins: It scoops the competition by delivering the information first and, by the way,
happens to curry favor with--surprise--a potential advertiser. Unfortunately, you lose:
You get a single perspective with little depth or analysis from a source whose credibility
and objectivity you should question because of the "deal."
As the Times points out, these cozy arrangements have a natural progression: Why not
cut out the reporters and editors altogether? In recent months, Harper's Bazaar
("Nobody does it better: Sharon Stone on herself") and US magazine ("The
unbelievable truth about Mel Gibson. By Mel Gibson") have both succumbed. When does
the trade journal making the exclusive deal with the manufacturer abrogate its role and
allow the manufacturer to write the article?
Needless to say, EDN has never played these games. Our mission is to serve you. We use
our covers to highlight the theme of the issue's cover story, which is never a
single-product article. The small product photos that occasionally grace the upper-right
corner of our cover appear without conditions or deals. Our editors select those products
based on their evaluations of the products' features and ingenious designs and on the
interests of our readers--without regard to exclusivity. We love to compete, but we'd
rather compete using our superior engineering and editorial skills. Though manufacturers
have approached us to do exclusives, we always suggest that the information be presented
concurrently to all publications. We'd rather win our competitive battles with the depth
and analysis of our editorial product and without sacrificing your interests.
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