No surprise, when there's a change of ownership at a magazine, staff upheavals typically follow, and as BusinessWeek moves from its decades-long home at McGraw-Hill to new owner Bloomberg, the exits have begun with the resignation of editor Steve Adler.
Adler, a former Wall Street Journal editor, joined the business and financial weekly four years ago as it was confronting serious slide in ad pages.
Adler sent a memo to BW staffers yesterday announcing his resignation, writing, "I want you to be the first to know that I will be leaving BusinessWeek when Bloomberg becomes its new owner in December."
Adler went on to talk up the magazine and its prospects under its new owners:
"I’m excited about the sale to Bloomberg and about BusinessWeek’s opportunity to prosper under its leadership. I’m confident the Bloomberg team shares our journalistic standards and will bring new passion, new ideas, and new resources to the endeavor. I look forward to working with you and with the Bloomberg team to make the smoothest-possible transition."
Other exits are expected to follow among the top editor ranks and on the business side as Bloomberg sets about fitting the title into its corporate structure.
For sure, the title will be in capable hands under Norm Pearlstine, also alum of the Journal, where he had been managing editor, as well as Time Inc., where he'd also been the top editor.
His title at Bloomberg, which he joined last year, is chief content officer, and with the announcement of the BW's sale he gained a new one, chairman of BusinessWeek.
Bloomberg picked up BW in an auction of the ailing title, paying several million dollars and agreeing to assume some liabilities. The sale was announced last week.
Pearlstine has said he plans no massive job cuts at BW, but there's sure to be shakeups as the new boss attempts to craft a new course for the magazine.
Over recent years, various makeovers and repositionings were attempted, but none succeeded in halting the loss of ad pages.
The real question is whether Pearlstine will do any better.
BusinessWeek is hardly alone among the major business titles to see ad pages dwindle as advertisers shifted the spending to the internet and to more general-interest print titles in their pursuit of decision-makers.
