Before May 2007, Harry McCracken was just another editor-in-chief at a major consumer/B2B magazine. Then he resigned, making him one of the most talked about editors in the media world. Rather than ax an article (“ 10 Things I Hate About Apple”) at the request of his then-CEO Colin Crawford, McCracken opted out, taking the high road. Chairman and CEO of IDG, theparent company to PC World,
Pat McGovernquicklysteppedinandhelped McCrackengetreinstatedas VP/EIC within a week. Simultaneously, Crawford was moved back to corporate as a digital EVP, the job he was doing before being CEO of PC World. Crawford admitted his error, McCracken was back in, and not a peep was heard out of Steve Jobs regarding the negative public- ity he was getting regarding his rumored ruthlessness towards editors who wrote mean things about helpless, defenseless Apple. McCracken took the gamble of the year, and it paid off. Now, he has a new CEO, Mike Kisseberth. Let”s hope that Kisseberth and Mc- Cracken can play nice.
Message Board
Erik Hellweg, Executive Editor, Harvard Business Review Online
Harryhasalwaysbeenaveryintriguingfellow. I”veknownhimfor12years. He’s probably the nicest person you’ll ever meet, but with a wickedly dry senseofhumor. Themoreyougettoknowhim, themoreyou’lldiscover hisintriguinganddelightfulquirks, suchashisfascination withanimation. When he was named the editor of PC World, it was surprising and com- pletelynotsurprisingatthesametime. Notsurprising, becausehe’sagreat editor;butsurprisingbecausehe”sareallyunassumingandshyguy. Typi- callyinthosepositions, you wantsomeonewithareallyforceful personality, but Harry does it by being who he is. People just wanttodogoodjournalismaroundhim.
What have you done this year?
•Ledaneditorialteamthatkeeps improving PCWorld.comwithnew featureslikevideo, slideshows, communitytoolsandawholelot more
•Helped PCWorld winawardsfor Web Publicationofthe Yearin ASBPE”s Azbeecompetition, and Best Consumer Computing Magazineand Best Consumer Web Siteinthe WPA’s Maggiecompetition
•Continued PCWorld’slongstreakas thebest-sellingcomputingmagazine atnewsstands
•Spentaweekhangingoutwith PC World readersonourfirst Caribbean cruise
•Can”trememberifanythingelseof notehappenedatworkthisyear….Oh! Ibecameanuncle!
What do you like to do?
Playwithgadgetsandgizmosandget paidforit;bikearound Northern Califor- nia;collectvintagecomicstripart.
Playing Favorites
Kevin McKean, Editorial Director,
Consumer Reports
I got to PC World in 2000. Harry
was features editor, and he was
based in Boston. The maga-
zine didn’t have an edi-
tor at that time, and it
needed one. Harry
was the brain behind
thegreatcoverideas,
andhehadwonderfullanguage. Wewere
tryingtopersuade Harrytocometo San
Francisco to be editor, but he didn’t
wanttoleave Boston. Ittooktwoyears
to persuade him to come. Now that
he’s here, he loves it and never wants
toleave. He took therolein all kinds
ofnewdirections. Hewasoneofthe
people who really helped push the
magazine even more online. Harry
is also one of the most ethically up-
right people I’ve had the pleasure
to work with. If he tells you he’s
going to do something, he”s going
to do his darndest to make sure
thathappens.
Restaurants:
• Trader Vic’s, Emeryville, CA Ton Kiang, Millabrae, CA(bestdim sum I”vehadonthiscontinent)
•Rosemary”s, Las Vegas, NV
•Mother”s New Orleans, LA
•Arthur Bryant’s, Kansas City, MO
Music: Justaboutanythingfromthe1960s Web sites: NYTimes.com•Google Apps•Slate (for which I write from time to time)
•YouTube• Bloggingheads.tv
Magazines:
• Esquire—from the 1940s, the 1960s, and currently• The New Republic • Bicycling • The New Yorker • Spy, in its heyday
TV: Keith Olbermann”s Countdown Movies: Willy Wonkaandthe Chocolate Facto- ry (the original one, not Tim Burton)
• The Wrong Box • Albert Brooks” Lost in America• The Truman Show• The Last Daysof Disco•Pinocchio
References:
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