Like the Liberal Democrats, business magazines have long suffered from something of an image problem.
More
people like them, trust them and believe in them than they quite seem
to get credit for. And despite the fact that they work incredibly hard
to do a thoroughly professional job, most of the attention inevitably
ends up being lavished on their more celebrity-endorsed counterparts –
consumer magazines and national newspapers.
So with impeccable
timing in the week of an election, some of the sector’s biggest players
have got together to do something about it. Hence the launch – or
rebranding – of the Periodical Publishers Association’s business
division as PPA Professional.
Wisely, they have not chosen the
route of the Labour or Conservative campaigns in slagging off the
claims of their rivals. Rather, they have chosen to highlight the many
positive messages of what they have to offer.
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Such as the fact
that, with annual revenues of some £13bn, they are hardly the poor
relations of publishing. Or that 87 per cent of decision makers use B2B
publications regularly for their work – more than any other medium.
The
birth of PPA Professional coincides with an advertising campaign and a
new website, www.professionalmedia.info, highlighting the effectiveness
of the medium to potential advertisers.
But its champions are
aware too that the positive message needs to be spread among the
journalism community – not only about the skills and successes of the
editorial teams who put their titles together, but also about the fact
that they offer highly rewarding, creative (and generally
decently-paid) careers.
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They’re also great drivers of important, public interest stories, as our story on page 10 highlights.
Accountancy
Age has been at the forefront of lifting an injunction brought by
corporate giant Deloitte & Touche. The firm had been trying to
prevent publication of the findings of accountancy’s senior industry
watchdog, the Joint Disciplinary Scheme, which had been investigating
complaints about its handling of an audit.
Thanks largely to the magazine, the JDS findings will now be made public.
Every week, B2B journalists do a brilliant job in both championing their readers and holding the big players to account.
PPA Professional should help ensure that they get a little more of their fair share of attention.
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