As the PC World Turns
In a twist worthy of the most improbable soap opera episode, PC World has called back its recently resigned editor-in-chief and punted its new CEO.
The original scandal erupted last week when the recently installed PC World CEO Colin Crawford--apparently unfamiliar with the word "journalism," having primarily only worked at MacWorld--insisted that PC World editorial, uh, produce kinder, gentler reviews of advertisers' products. At least that's essentially what editor-in-chief Harry McCracken claimed, and he promptly quit.
With PC World's editorial independence besmirched--and its value to readers completely eliminated--one had to wonder if the magazine was in dire financial straits or was about to be shuttered.
But late yesterday came the announcement that editor McCracken was back, and CEO Crawford was out--at least out of PC World's face. I don't know who made the call, but it is a shocking one. (I've quit over ethical issues before, and no one in corporate ever called me begging me to come back. Sniff, sniff.) Ethics and common sense winning out over short-sightedness and ignorance? Never happens. Okay, just this once.
Incidentally, Crawford maintains his highly paid management position at PC World's parent company and will be overseeing the company's online efforts. Does that mean that what they put on the Web can't be trusted because it's kinder to advertisers? One has to wonder.
If you want to follow the original sordid mess (or for the really cynical among us, possible PR ploy), see "PC World or Apple World."
To get the word straight from the horse's mouth (or another part of the horse's anatomy), see PC World's own strangely self-referential story.
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