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Editor quits after PC Mag kills Apple story [updated]

updated 08:05 pm EDT, Thu May 3, 2007

Editor quits over Jobs' st

[digg this] The much adored Mac and iPod maker is certainly the darling of the media and there are not many who can draw a crowd like its boss, Steve Jobs, but the Apple CEO's growing influence may extend to even PC-centric publications. A new report indicates that PC World Editor-in-Chief Harry McCracken quit this week because of differences over an upcoming editorial piece on Apple's Steve Jobs. Wired reports that McCracken quit abruptly today because the company's new CEO, Colin Crawford, tried to kill a whimsical article titled "Ten Things We Hate About Apple." Although it still was in draft form when Crawford killed it, the new exec, who has a close relationship to Steve Jobs, was unwilling to bend.

"McCracken said no way and walked after Crawford refused to compromise. Apparently Crawford also told editors that product reviews in the magazine were too critical of vendors, especially ones who advertise in the magazine, and that they had to start being nicer to advertisers," Wired wrote in its blog.

Crawford, who is a longtime friend of Jobs, was the former CEO of MacWorld and only started at PC World about a month ago, but the changes maybe pushing the already-blurring lines of advertising and editorial.

"When Crawford was working for the Mac magazine, Steve Jobs would call him up any time he had a problem with a story the magazine was running about Apple," a source told Wired.

"Everybody is so proud of Harry but we're devastated that he's gone," said the source. "This is no way to run a magazine. But unfortunately, this looks like an indication of what we've got in store (from the new boss)."

Officially, McCracken resigned after 12 years at the magazine and 16 years at publisher International Data Group citing over "disagreements with management," but declined to elaborate.

Update: While Crawford denied the allegations on his personal blog, other publications including CNET have independently verified the initial report: "But three sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CNET that McCracken informed staffers in an afternoon meeting Wednesday that he decided to resign because Colin Crawford, senior vice president, online, at IDG Communications, was pressuring him to avoid stories that were critical of major advertisers."

"We have and will continue to run editorial and content that both praises and criticizes as appropriate without regard to the vendor relationship," Crawford wrote without criticizing McCracken.

by MacNN Staff





  1. lockhartt

    Joined: Dec 1969


    not cool...

    If these allegations are accurate, and the work in question wasn't just plain slander, then any benefit of popular press from PC Mag just went out the window (no pun intended) along with their credibility.

  1. bhuot

    Joined: Dec 1969


    creative FUD

    Just another bunch of FUD against Apple paid by Microsoft. I guess they are just starting to get creative.

  1. Zwilnik

    Joined: Dec 1969


    so what?

    what's whimsical about a title like "Ten things we hate about Apple" ?

  1. bobolicious

    Joined: Dec 1969


    Having worked on...

    ...high profile news worthy things and seen what got printed, I just don't bother with printed advertising sponsored or corporately controlled media anymore - the web does have its merits in offering the world an audience...

  1. Macola

    Joined: Dec 1969



    All corporate, ad-supported media is the same, right down to your local newspaper. Such is life in the media.

  1. waterlogged50

    Joined: Dec 1969


    Whats the point

    why bother even writing an article entitled "Ten Things We Hate About Apple". What are they going after? Aren't there bigger and better stories then a hit piece on Apple? Not seeing any "Dell sucks because" articles.

  1. eddd

    Joined: Dec 1969


    poor form

    This is absurd. Apple is not beyond reproach. I would have resigned as well. What a shame.

  1. mymacluvsme

    Joined: Dec 1969


    the ten things they hate

    about Apple:

    10. Apple is successful. 9. Apple is successful. 8. Apple is successful. 7. Apple is successful. 6. Apple is successful. 5. Apple is successful. 4. Apple is successful. 3. Apple is successful. 2. Apple is successful. 1. Apple is successful.

  1. Luke MacWalker

    Joined: Dec 1969



    Why is the title implying that the journalist quitted because of the story about Apple when in the end it is said he quitted because his boss wants "nicer reviews for advertisers"? Not that it makes the boss attitude any better, but still wondering...

  1. ajhoughton

    Joined: Dec 1969


    two sides to every story

    I'm sure there are two sides to this story; we don't know, for instance, what the article in question actually contained. We also don't know how "nice to advertisers" PC Mag's new CEO wants the magazine to be; it seems to me that there is a pretty broad spectrum, ranging from treating vendors with thinly veiled contempt through to doing anything they ask and never writing a bad word about them. Both extremes are equally wrong; maybe the CEO feels that PC Mag was erring too far towards the contempt end of the scale. h***, maybe he'd got letters on his desk threatening to pull a substantial amount of advertising from the magazine.

    The point is that *we don't know* the full details, so we shouldn't be quick to judge either party here.

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