McCracken Back In at PC World; Crawford Back in Executive Roll at IDG

It rhymes.  Harry McCracken is back in as editor-in-chief at PC World.  And Colin Crawford is, as of Wednesday, no longer CEO of PC World.  He is now executive vice president, online.

If anyone had any doubts as to whether the editors or publishers were in charge of PC World, this development should clear things up.  McCracken clearly won this battle, and, presumably, Bob Carrigan, CEO of IDG, and Pat McGovern, chairman and founder, are behind him.

This move should go a long way in restoring the damaged credibility of the publication.  Readers can rest assured that PC World isn’t a shill for advertisers, and advertisers can run programs with PC World with the knowledge the magazine has editors that readers can trust.  The value proposition should soon be restored.

Personally, I think Crawford acted with some grace in this situation.  Clearly, he had to go.  And he did so without much fanfare.  Over at IDG, Carrigan et al love what Crawford has to bring to the table and I’m sure are happy to have him back.  As for Crawford: “I’m really, really excited to be back on the IDG executive team, and excited to be focusing on the growth of IDG’s online activities again.”

Who would have thought this would end so well?  Aside from Crawford getting a nasty scratch (and learning some lessons in the process, I imagine), all seems to be well, or on its way.  The search for PC World’s next CEO begins today.