The second issue of Conde Nast Publications' business magazine Portfolio is now at newsstands leading critics like MarketWatch's Jon Friedman and The New Republics' Elizabeth Spiers to rip it apart once again. The magazine has established lofty goals of changing business journalism so, of course, it is going to illicit ill-will amongst rivals. However, the hazing — if you will — of Portfolio is commonplace in business journalism. After all, Portfolio is not the only business journalism effort to face such treatment. The as-yet to air Fox Business Channel has received similar derision.
Veterans of The Deal are quite familiar with the criticism associated with the launch of a new business publication because it faced similar circumstances eight years earlier — lucky for us, the lack of blogs made the criticism seem less frenetic. Although the chorus of naysayers — The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Financial Times — was smaller, their voices were perhaps just as loud — these are, of course, the stalwarts of daily news. Their "big issue" with The Deal was whether a privately owned newspaper reporting on private equity could remain objective. However, The Deal overcame the naysayers by finding its niche and successfully providing its audience with objective journalism about dealmaking. And to some extent, The Deal's presence led to change at the three critics. The Journal introduced its Deals & Dealmaker section, after The Deal proved there was an audience. In addition, the Times introduced more deal coverage, ultimately leading to Dealbook. Finally, the FT recently acquired Mergermarket to bolster its dealmaking coverage.
So if Portfolio can navigate the rocky shoals that are the first years of a new publication, and establish a clear voice and style, then keep your eyes on Forbes, Fortune and other monthly business magazines to see how they respond. —Matthew Wurtzel
See Jon Friedman's opinion from MarketWatch
See critique from Dealbreaker
See follow up from Dealbreaker
See post from Gawker
See post from Jossip
See post from Mediabistro's FishBowlNY
Tags: media
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