Comments on: Does the Atlanta Business Chronicle Care?

By: Scott Burkett

Scott Burkett — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:57:41 +0000

Urvaksh – thanks for stopping by and dropping a comment.

I’m glad to see the Chronicle stepping up to provide some coverage of the tech scene in Atlanta. I wish there was a full-time resource dedicated to the technology community here, but this is a step in the right direction.

Cheers.
Scott

By: Urvaksh Karkaria

Urvaksh Karkaria — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:21:52 +0000

Scott, The Atlanta Business Chronicle does care.
I now cover the tech beat, in addition to health care (which I’ve been covering since I got here about eight months ago.)
For your readers: I’d like to focus on tech deals getting done in the region, company expansions/growth – and layoffs.
I’d also like to focus on business issues that affect the local tech community.

By: Konstantyn

Konstantyn — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:13:48 +0000

Scott, the fact that tech coverage is shrinking is bad enough. Though it is the impact that counts. In this sense Atlanta Business Chronicle isn’t big loss.

There is a cross-platform analogy for what matters. It is science. Publishing scientific papers is vital for ideas. It is much more important than publishing startup dids, which earn their permissions to exist somewhere else than inked paper.

The scientific paper publishing has two segments: established journals and conference proceedings. The first segment is like a for-profit press (ABC, etc.) it is mostly reviewed by professionals in science (here more scientific politic) and publishing. The journals state and popularize the facts. But the conference proceedings create growing points. The papers are reviewed by peers, by people who have immediate interest and understanding of what is happening. A good illustration – why it is important – is movie “Planet of the Apes” (1968).

Considering your mission statement, fall out of the “journals” is worth to be mentioned. But it is early to cry. It is an excellent opportunity for a better coverage by “proceedings”. A trusted, peers reviewed technology business publishing engine will do better service to the community.

Now the question: Why couldn’t the SB-Pothole have a news line of the kind?

By: Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:50:25 +0000

Peter — you missed Mary Jane Credeur. And wasn’t Rodney Ho on the ABC tech beat before he joined the AJC?

By: SpaceyG

SpaceyG — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:40:11 +0000

I offered the ABC that video I did that featured you and PlayMotion… for FREE, to put on their website. They said they had no method, means, nada for supporting video at all. Makes me wanna holler. You can’t even give away tech-oriented content in this town. It’s downright shameful. I felt I should have personally apologized to every CEO at the TAG Summit for the gross negligence of ALL Atlanta MSM brethren. A sorry state of affairs, but in this Cox Media Plantation town, one I’d not expect to change anytime soon. Why change when you don’t have to? But at least you could reasonably ask for the ABC to have a freakin’ tech reporter. It’s not so much to wish for.

By: Peter Baron

Peter Baron — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:52:40 +0000

I miss Justin, he did a great job. So did his predecessors – remember Brian Moran, Caroline Hubbard, Jason Kelly, and Charles Davidson (hope I didn’t miss anyone). Atlanta still has a vibrant tech community, especially in the start-up arena. Having done tech pr for 20+ years here I can attest to the perceived importance of a Chronicle article – it seemed that all of our clients wanted to be in there, even if it wasn’t being read by their target audience — they wanted their buddies (investors, partners, potential hires) to see it! I still think that Ed can make a buck or two with an online model; it will involve developing a locally controlled site with a commitment to tech industry coverage, etc. The brand has power and there’s certainly a legacy to grow on. If Ed doesn’t want to do it – maybe we all should? Anyone interested? Drop me a line.

By: Lance Weatherby

Lance Weatherby — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:45:02 +0000

While subscription revenue obviously does not cover the cost of producing a paper, it is an income stream that matters. The only reason I subscribed to the Atlanta Business Chronicle was the tech column. I vote with my feet and not renew (and also will not digress into the marketing tactics of publishing companies on subscription renewals) unless they bring the tech column back.

By: Michael Blake

Michael Blake — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:58:15 +0000

In a way it’s just reflective of the market. Tech companies are less financially empowered to pay for and frankly get less value from exposure in the ABC. I’m sure if tech companies were buying lots of ads and sponsoring columns, the ABC would have lots more tech in it.

By: Scott Burkett

Scott Burkett — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:36:36 +0000

Lol … I agree with both of you.

C’mon, Stephen. You know you want to invest in a newspaper play

Cheers.
Scott

By: Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:34:35 +0000

Q: Does the Atlanta Business Chronicle care?
A: No.

See, wasn’t that simple?

The reason is simple. The Chronicle (and the zillion other XYZ Business Chronicle/Journals around the country) are in the business of smearing black ink over dead tree pulp, and shipping the result around the city in trucks. That business gets paid for by ADVERTISING.

Tech industries have pretty much abandoned dead-tree publishing. So, guess what? No advertising dollars for the Chronicle. It follows as the night follows the day that the Chronicle doesn’t care about tech industries.

(Hint: grab a copy; someone you know must still subscribe, even if only out of inertia. Count the number of ads from real estate firms. Now count the number of ads from technology firms. Clear enough?)

And don’t talk to me about the bizjournal.com “Internet strategy.” That strategy, as far as I can tell, is to shove everything interesting behind a pay wall, where you have to subscribe to the dead-tree edition to access it. Bah.