Home Critic's Corner

Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry.

RE: "Just because they print it doesn't mean that it is true." Ditto for S'phile and every other hifi mag.

> Have my doubts if there've been many big battles where JA has successfully
> fought off his corporate owners. If the owners wanted something bad enough
> they'd get their way...

I am sorry you are so cynical. I have had ongoing battles with the successive
owners of Stereophile since Larry Archibald and I sold the magazine in 1998.
In one such battle in 2014, I was actually fired for a couple of hours, until
cooler heads prevailed. In the end, it will cost the company a lot more money
to get rid of me than to keep me.

> Owners of newspapers can and do influence editorial content, or slant it.

Not if they are wise. The only person who influences the content of Stereophile
is me.

> Unlike newspapers like the WP or NYT - which have ads from/for a wide
> variety of products/services - hifi mags have basically one advertising
> source.....people selling hifi gear/accessories. This means they are MUCH
> more beholding to one category of ad source than any newspaper - and its
> the ONE category they review.

With respect, you don't have a fucking clue. Any successful magazine editor,
not just me, knows that the key to long-term profitability is to leave money
on the table. My mentor and predecessor as editor of Hi-Fi News expressed it
best (See my linked article below):
"It was John Crabbe who defined for me the relationship between a magazine's
editorial integrity and the advertisers who financially support it (readers,
sadly, are never a significant source of income, given the high costs of
distribution): 'If you tell the truth about components you review, there
will always be a small percentage of companies at any one time who are not
advertising in your pages. But if you publish the truth, you will have a good
magazine. And if you have a good magazine, you will have readers. And as
long as you have readers, disgruntled advertisers will eventually return. But
if you don't tell the truth, you won't have a good magazine. And if you don't
have a good magazine, you won't have readers, at least not for long. And if
you don't have readers, you won't have advertisers.'"

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Signature Sound   [ Signature Sound Lounge ]


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.