Kudos To Harry McCracken for Resigning from PC World

Steve Cohn, editor-in-chief of min tells a story about David Carey, current publisher of Conde Nast Portfolio and ex-publisher of The New Yorker. Apparently, though Carey had an inkling of what topics might be discussed in any given issue, he did not see the final articles before Sunday, when it was way too late to make changes to the issue. No messing with the church/state wall.

If you’ve been paying attention, you already know that Harry McCracken now-ex-EIC at PC World has resigned over an argument with CEO Colin Crawford regarding an article reportedly entitled “10 Things I hate About Apple.” Supposedly, Crawford wanted changes made and McCracken would not compromise and then resigned. Media reports and Crawford tell different stories on what exactly happened and what the details of the situation are.

Regardless, McCracken is no longer EIC of PC World, a brand he worked for for 12 years, and the reason has something to do with Crawford meddling with an article–both sides have admitted these facts.

So, who was in charge at PC World editorially? McCracken’s resignation tells us that it was no longer him at that point, and this is very dangerous. Crawford is a smart publishing executive and lets readers know through his blog (also the official statement on the matter from PC World at this point) that “There is no shift in editorial policy at PC World, editorial integrity remains a core value and this will not change.” But how can we think this is true? We don’t know for sure exactly what the disagreement was about, but we do know that Crawford read an article for a future issue, had a problem with it, and attempted to have it changed. That shows a lack of editorial independence, if not integrity.

Kudos to McCracken for making a stand. As an editor, it’s easy for me to applaud when editors do something for themselves; but this is not simply a case of that. McCracken, through his attempt to maintain control of the publication, was also attempting to maintain the reputation, and ultimately, the value proposition of the publication.

This is a sad week for PC World: they lose both a veteran leader on the editorial side and some integrity, too.

The Apple Twist
Has anyone considered the way this might damage Apple? An article in PC World called “10 Things I hate About Apple” might have had some minor effects, maybe have garnered some publicity. But this little incident has brought Apple a lot more negative attention–and with only the title of the article! If, in fact, Crawford was acting out of deference to an advertiser (which is not necessarily the case), he may have inadvertently done more harm than good.