The Tennessean is reporting that Las Vegas police are recommending the district attorney file three charges against Titans cornerback Pacman Jones for his role in a Feb. 19 melee that may have set off a triple shooting at a strip club — misdemeanor battery, misdemeanor threat to life and felony coercion.

Kathy Sierra, an author and blogger who I admire greatly, has been the target of some sick, harassing comments and blog posts. The blogosphere can be an engaging, fun and friendly place. I don’t understand the motivations of those who feel it necessary to use it to harass and intimidate others. Kathy is so freaked out, she’s considering ceasing her blogging. I hope she doesn’t. Those who use blogs to terrorize others should be subject to the same laws as those who use other means for such activities.

My friend (and he is) Tony Silber, the editor and publisher (and partner) of Folio: Magazine wants to know why the blogosphere went apoplectic at the news InfoWorld is ceasing its print version:

“A reporter hates to admit missing a story, so it’s hard to acknowledge I came into work this morning, checked the blogs for the latest news and buzz, and found them burning up with reports that IDG’s InfoWorld was about to shut down its print magazine and go online only.”

Many years ago, I said on this blog that I would not track the closure of magazines, or, for that matter the lay-offs. I’m not interested in following or commenting on the transaction side of the magazine industry. I depend on Tony and others to keep me abreast of that. As he points out in that post, he reports constantly on magazines doing what InfoWorld did today. Why was this such a big deal?

Unlike other magazines that close (and launch) every week in the world in which Tony and I live, the Infoworld brand is one that many tech bloggers grew up with. Why did the blogosphere ignite, Tony asks. Well, read this post yesterday from Dave Winer, the Johnny Appleseed of blogging (and the Christopher Columbus of RSS). It recounts the role the magazine played in a series of startup projects reaching back 25 years. It memorializes the role of a great business-to-business media platform and, yes, a community, in the development of an industry — an industry in which many influential bloggers spend their lives. It was just one of several such memorials on the blogosphere this past weekend.

There may have been some “death of old media” taint to some of the blog response to the Infoworld news, but most of what I read seemed to place it in the correct context with regards to what it is: an appropriate response to the realities of a saturated and confused marketplace in which it’s much easier to make money selling registrations than giving away subscriptions.

As for why I jumped into the conversation? I am an evangelist and creator of all types of conversational media as much as I am an evangelist and creator of magazines. I see clearly how they all work together and the role each of these media play in our lives and work. Too often, in the intersection between the magazine industry and blogosphere where I sit, I witness some gross misunderstanding of what’s going on — on the other side.

Final thought — and I’ve recalled this with Tony before. About ten years ago, in one of the last times I was in the World Trade Tower, I was on what had to be the first panel Tony Silber ever moderated on the topic of “magazines creating online media.” (Scary thought, but 11 years ago, oh man, am I old, I was on the cover of Folio: in a story about magazine websites.) The panel was being held in the facility Pace University used to have in what I think was the south tower. I remember saying to the assembled group of magazine people that somewhere in Palo Alto, there was a group of tech people attending a similar seminar trying to learn about the business of magazine publishing.

This may surprise some people who did not know Life had been relaunched as a neswpaper insert, but Staci Kramer of PaidContent.org alerted me that, “This morning brings news that Time Inc. is going to do just that—shutter the newspaper insert…and will focus on various digital platforms as well as books.”

(Just to prove magazines launch and magazines die everyday, here is my post when the Life newspaper insert plan was announced as the “Largest Magazine Rollout in Time Inc. History.”)

Finally, the editor of Infoworld announces the news anyone who cares to know, already knew. He announced it in a blog post that isn’t noted (9 a.m., PDT) on the front of the website. Quote:

“Yes, the rumors are true. As of April 2, 2007, InfoWorld is discontinuing its print component. No more printing on dead trees, no more glossy covers, no more supporting the US Post Office in its rush to get thousands of inky copies on subscribers’ desks by Monday morning (or thereabouts). The issue that many of you will receive in your physical mailbox next week — vol. 29, issue 14 — will be the last one in InfoWorld’s storied 29-year history. But let me dispel any other rumors. InfoWorld is not dead. We’re not going anywhere. We are merely embracing a more efficient delivery mechanism –the Web — at InfoWorld.com. You can still get all the news coverage, reviews, analysis, opinion, and commentary that InfoWorld is known for. You’ll just have to access it in a browser (or RSS reader) — something more than a million of you already do every month.

Some good commentary follows that, but, frankly, it sounds a bit as if it were filtered through a legal department and some layers of management that recognize they are still publishing print versions of dozens of other titles. He ends with this quote:

“I’d like to make this more of a dialog than a soliloquy. So tell me what you think, or share any memories of InfoWorld print here. Let the conversation begin.

Note to Steve: The conversation began about 48 hours ago. There are some very eloquent memories written in may places where such conversations take place. A web-centric editor would be pointing to them. I admire you IDG guys, really. Sorry if I’m sounding perplexed at how you’ve handled this.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have a feeling this will be a theme for my posts today. MediaPost reports that Forbes is launching a magazine called Forbes Life Executive Women. The expert (and blogger) I turn to for reactions to such news, Andrea Learned, asks this:

“I am all for better serving the businesswoman reader, but am wondering if entire new magazines need to be created to do so. Forbes is an established, well-read publication. What about just working to make its content and delivery more relevant to women (in ways that don’t alienate men). Magazines are launching and fading very quickly these days, so why not work on the making the existing titles more relevant for existing readers?

Her comments thread is open for your insights.

Technorati Tags: magazines

Susan Mernit on today’s “print is dead” meme:

“When it comes to newspapers, they’re pretty much right–industrial grade paper just isn’t the medium of choice for news anymore and reporters aren’t the only people who can cover events and provide informed perspectives. Having said that…let me also add that I think magazines — my beloved addiction - -are in a really different position and may indeed flourish as newspaper decline. The best magazines are finding ways to marry their web and print, their community and paid coverage and creating wonderous and interesting hybrids that newspapers can match.”

She promises more later today. So do I.

Bonus quote: Declaring live stuff dead was old long before techies picked up on the practice. (Doc Searls)

Quote of the day from Jason Fry in Real Time, his column in the Wall Street Journal:

“U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin’s decision is remarkable for hitting the trifecta of digital-age frustrations: It fetishizes technology at the expense of common sense; points out, once again, how out of step copyright law is with our digital world; and raises the question of who, if anybody, will speak for consumers.”

Technorati Tags: copyright