By now most of the other tech writers out there have linked to the story about PC World editor Harry McCracken resigning over what were characterized as "disagreements with the magazine's publisher regarding stories criticial of advertisers". Most of what I've had to say about this has been an echo of many other people's statements, which I can sum up like so:
- When the ad people start calling the shots at a publication, to the detriment of the editorial, it isn't a secret for very long. It usually doesn't require any degree of detective work on the part of the readers to spot it, either -- it's pretty self-evident.
- I've had my ear chewed more than a few times in the past by companes who felt I had published unfairly critical evaluations of their products. Believe me: they get over it fast. They know they can't live without the broadest possible coverage, and they never stay mad for long. I've known of people who got fired from working for a given publication for violating an NDA, however, but no major software or hardware company can afford to hold grudges for too long.
- I strongly suspect there's more to this story than just the deep-sixing of an article that was mildly critical of Applie, and that it might have been the only last straw after a whole series of camel-breakers. It takes quite a bit to separate a multi-year veteran of a given publication from his work -- like, for instance, a new boss whose sympathies for Apple are worn openly on the sleeve.
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