PC World Editor Returns, CEO Demoted

k1980pc writes "In a nice twist to the recent discussion on Slashdot, PC World editor Harry McCracken has returned to the magazine. In turn, Colin Crawford has been removed as PC World's CEO, where 'he will be responsible for driving IDG's online strategy and initiatives in support of our web-centric business focus' ... safely out of the way of the magazine editors. McCracken was pleased to return to his position: 'I'm thrilled to be back with the PC World team. IDG is a company I've loved working for over the past 16 years, and one with a remarkable history of enabling editors to serve our customers--the millions of people who depend on our content online and in print.'"

Comments

Punishment

[iansmith]

I'd rather see the former CEO be a former employee rather than just move him to another important position.

But, at least they did something.

Re:censorship tag?

[cyphercell]

PC World Editor Resigns When Ordered Not to Criticize Advertisers - From the first link.

Re:Still think he should have taken that other job

[Anonymous Coward]

I love the fact that this needs explained . . .

His brother PHIL would be "Phil McCraken" i.e. fill McCrack . . . . Fill My Crack. Caulking Company. Filling cracks . . .

C'mon man . . . . if you can't understand 3rd grade toilet humor why are reading slashdot?

Re:Take a bow, Slashdot, you probably influence th

[arivanov]

There is a term to this and it is "constructive dismissal". Second highest payback category in an employment tribunal after discrimination cases and usually more successful as it is considerably easier to prove.

Re:and the obvious question is...

[PCM2]

Colin Crawford no longer has a position directly overseeing the PC World/Macworld group. It's not a matter of a "golden parachute"; he has been moved into an executive role at IDG, the parent company of those publications -- which is where he came from in the first place.

To explain, IDG is a very large publishing company with properties and subsidiaries all around the world. It also remains privately held, something which is often touted as an advantage, given how turbulent publishing can sometimes be. The philosophy of Pat McGovern, the founder of IDG, is to take a very decentralized approach. Each publication is its own business unit, under the larger umbrella of IDG. So when I worked at InfoWorld, for example, we had our own CEO and our own vice presidents (a ridiculous number of them, in fact) -- all of whom were ultimately responsible to the Big Execs at IDG, but whom were given a certain amount of autonomy to run the business as they saw fit. IDG requires that all business units report on their financials, obviously, and they all have to explain how they plan to meet various proscribed fiscal goals for each year/quarter. If the plan doesn't add up, IDG will recommend adjustments. But, pretty much, the IDG model recognizes that the market for each content topic is going to be different and its various business units need to have flexible enough models that they can succeed in their chosen niches. The only disadvantage of this model is that IDG business units sometimes can't collaborate with each other as well as they might wish to -- they don't really share resources, so they're often reluctant to invest in something that will benefit other books as much as their own.

So, that said, Colin Crawford is no longer CEO of a business unit at IDG, but he remains an executive in the IDG umbrella organization. I understand his new title is executive vice president of online. Prior to becoming CEO of PC World/Macworld, I believe his title was senior vice president of online. So it sounds like he's kind of been given his old job back, with a little perfunctory upgrade in title.

I say good riddance. The guy sounds like a real creep. But, to be charitable, firing him probably wouldn't be the right thing to do. In a position at IDG, he no longer has any direct influence over any IDG business units. He's not sitting next to anybody's editorial. And there's evidence to suggest that he really does understand the publishing business. For example, Crawford was the architect behind the cross-company merger of Macworld and MacUser ten years ago -- and though you might have preferred one or another before the merger, it probably saved both of them at a time when the Mac market wasn't quite as hot as it is now.