Monday 16 February 2009

Magazine closures

New thread request:
We (ITP) have closed another two magazines today...(thought I would get in there first)

My good friend over the road at Motivate tells me they are going to announce one more "suspension" in the next few days.

Any guesses?

103 comments:

Anonymous said...

More magazine closures at ITP? Surprise surprise! The giant ball of camel shit is hitting the industrial size district cooling plant like no one could have guessed only 6 months ago. Probably the shitty transportation titles this time. More to come no doubt.

Anonymous said...

VIVA?

Anonymous said...

Breeze Block quarterly?, Molar monthly? Hotel Fridges weekly? Labour Camp lite?

Anonymous said...

One is VIVA Girl. What a big shame.

Anonymous said...

It's magazines for now, it'll be ITP divisions soon. Mark my words...

Anonymous said...

anon_hack, your sympathy for your redundant colleagues restores my faith in humanity.
my heart goes out to the green-eyed graduates that have been shipped out here and have paid out 12months extortionate rent in advance only to be ditched without remorse now that the rusty cogs at the sausage factory have seized up. itp with its shameful greed expanded needlessly fast and canabilised ad revenue. reputable publishing houses shut mags as a last resort. But ITP doesnt value readers or the reputation of its mags and closures were part of its grand business plan all along. But I forget, since half the mags never get mailed out thinking about readers is not necessary

Anonymous said...

Right - let's count up how many mags have closed so far. These are the ones that I have heard about:

Society Dubai
Dealmaker
Four Four Two
2 ITP medical mags

How many more have folded/are about to fold?

Anonymous said...

Congrats to 10.09 - Viva girl was one...

Anonymous said...

theres has to be loads of magazines owned by two bit operators that have disappeared without anyone noticing.....

Anonymous said...

Has to be one of the Men's lifestyle titles. Hmmm... Charged has been a complete abortion since Ritman left (and I'm not proud to say that, as he's a c8nt) or maybe Cricket Middle East? Can't be much of a revenue stream in that title.

Or maybe one of the Exec titles. Arabian Insight, The Advisor or CEO spring to mind. They look like they were designed by GSCE home economics students.

Anonymous said...

Here's my guess:


Airport Middle East - Any cunt (except apparently the cunts at ITP) can see that its exactly the same as Aviation Business - waste of fucking space you arseholes!

SeaFreight - A pile of wank that needs to be floated downstream from old Jadaf, for good. Already covered by Logistics.

Education - what were these cunts thinking? I know..."let's take the most backwardly reminiscent of the 19th century of Dubai's institutions we can think of, and try and flog advertising space around it with our eyes shut hoping Srivinas Narayan Maralitarianulumullyarianavesegnarullium at Starcom doesn't notice.

Meetings & Incentives Middle East or MIME for short, which is quite apt considering the first 9 months sales revenue was rather like like Marcel Marceau stage window - invisible.

And the list goes on. Possible contenders for the axe are too many to mention here - but the general principle remains the same throughtout - "Let's take an already quite obscure area of commerce and sub-divide it into smaller, acutely more obscure sections and give each of them a new title." These are the titles that will disappear first. And all this comes from an ex-Group Sales Manager / Advertising Director who was shafted after 6 years loyalty. Thanks guys.

Anonymous said...

Closed:
The Buzz (Turquoise Publishing)
Your Business (DIT)

Romour has it MEED has run out of cash too, though I stress that's only a rumour.

Anonymous said...

ITP has no loyalty - you should have known that.

Anonymous said...

@23.41

Education and Airport got ditched last month. Well done Gil. Your powers of deception are not to be sniffed at.

So that's:
VIVA Girl
Education Times
Airport
Medical Times
Dentist

Any more?

Anonymous said...

Arabian Insight closed we've been told. Mind you, I don't know anyone outside our office that actually ever saw an issue. Obviously its launch was a major publishing event.

Anonymous said...

How do the agencies/clients feel when, one day after they have been "persuaded" to "support" one of these titles with their money, they get a quick phone call to say the title is dead?

Or do they not even get the courtesy phone call?

Anonymous said...

Just one quick correction...Dealmaker hasn't close in the Middle East...It's partner in the US, DoubleDown Media is going through problems and has stopped publishing...

Anonymous said...

Given that MEED is currently recruting, I doubt they have cash problems.

Anonymous said...

Turnover thing...just like TMF...people are always leaving, so they need more wide-eyed, naive,enthusiastic graduates to fill the space....

Anonymous said...

Can we get a thread going about the 'legal' issues between ENG and Fujairah Radio Network.
This is apparently the reason that Coast is just playing music on a loop.
Surely that has to be more interesting than 'Taps and Washers Weekly'being suspended by shite-TP.
Anyone got any info..?

Anonymous said...

How was the GAM/Ad Director shafted??

Anonymous said...

Come on, what about all the tens of other 'lifestyle mags' in the market.....The ones you only might see buried at the back of the shelves in Spinneys (usually the ones produced by dodgy Lebonese publishers (2 man band companies) who only ever get money of their mates in the agencies)

Anonymous said...

Hehe, this is cracking me having put up with innummerable titles in the UAE. Having worked in an international media agency for 3 years outside UAE (No, I won't mention which country), it serves right to these a**holes (I mean the publishing owners) who used to pressurize their minions to run directly to the clients, bypassing the media agency. I hope all of them go to hell, including my old shitty clients!

Anonymous said...

Over at ITP one Rob Corder is in a senior management position. Here is an example of his work - http://www.arabianbusiness.com/547390-cost-cutting-in-crunching-times.

To call this utter and complete garbage would be an insult to detritus. If Corder is at the top end of the Dubai publishing game while producing this kind of shocking shite I'm not surprised the local magazine industry is going down the toilet.

I laughed long, hard and loud when I read this.

Anonymous said...

I don't think Rob is known for his writing skills. Come to think of it... What does he do again?

Anonymous said...

Books flights for other staff at ITP?

Anonymous said...

ITP to sack 150 this week - rumour.

Productivity collapsing, staff paralysed as 'GMs' hide in offices.

Searfin bumps up Bentley security to combat disgruntled employees armed with sharp keys

Complaints over inconsistent treatment over rendundancies.

Some employees walking away with three months pay. Others just told to go...

Anonymous said...

This from the Financial times some time back:


Real estate may be the gloomiest sector in the Gulf but its woes are spreading to other parts of the regional economy. Increasingly, the print media industry is feeling the pinch.

Spurred by soaring advertising budgets of the region’s property and financial companies, the number of publications in the Middle East had almost doubled in the past three years to 1,800 by the end of last year, according to industry sources.

But as boom turns to bust in the property sector and the credit crunch ravages the financial industry, the media sector faces severe challenges in 2009 – particularly in the United Arab Emirates, home to many of the Gulf’s print media outlets and source of most of the region’s advertising.

Experts predict a slump in advertising this year will force a shake-out in many large, predominantly Dubai-based publishing houses.

“There is a ludicrously large number of magazines in the UAE ... [and] you are definitely going to see a lot of magazines shut down over the next three to four months,” says Austyn Allison, managing editor of Communicate, a Dubai-based marketing magazine.

A recent report by PwC, the consultants, and the Dubai Press Club forecast that advertising revenue growth in the UAE will slump from 41.5 per cent last year to 6.7 per cent in 2009.

However, the report’s forecasts were calculated in the third quarter of last year and Ian Sanders, one of its authors, admits that the recent mayhem means that the predictions are too optimistic.

“The world is looking very different now,” says Mr Sanders. “Things got a lot worse in the third quarter, and a lot has happened since then.”

Advertising has been driven primarily by property, financial and telecommunications companies but the first two are struggling with the impact of the credit crunch.

“Advertising from real estate and financial companies has largely evaporated,” says a regional newspaper editor. “A lot of the projects we have been reading about have been cancelled or delayed, and financial companies don’t have a lot to shout about. Everyone is cutting pagination and downsizing staff.”

Property advertising, the largest advertising spending category in the UAE, has been hit particularly badly. It dropped by more than two thirds to $25m during the final quarter of last year, according to data collected by the Pan Arab Research Centre.

Lower than expected advertising revenue has forced publishers to reduce staff. Job cuts have been particularly noticeable in Dubai, not least among advertising executives, public relations employees and journalists. Local media blogs are rife with rumours of further swingeing job losses, irregular payment of wages and reduced budgets.

“At first, we all thought we were in a lovely Dubai bubble, insulated from all this, but then all of a sudden everything changed,” says a Dubai-based magazine editor. “A lot of people are getting laid off. It’s a case of surviving, keeping things in- house and managing money.”

Motivate Publishing, the Dubai-based magazine group, has suspended the launch of Men’s Health and publication of Society Dubai, but other large publishers are also expected to shelve titles, says Mr Allison.

The drop in advertising has been noticeable in the declining number of pages across regional magazines and newspapers, according to Mr Sanders.

One enterprising public relations executive blogger has taken to weighing Gulf News, a Dubai newspaper. On February 9, the blogger found that an edition weighed 640 grams, having declined steadily from comfortably more than a kilo in November.

Some industry insiders say a shake-out of publications may prove a boon to the industry, as better titles survive and take a larger slice of the advertising pie once the market recovers.

“We have a stupid amount of magazines for quite a small population in the UAE,” says the magazine editor. “Maybe it will be a good thing in the longer run, but it’s pretty bad when you’re going through it yourself.”

Anonymous said...

ITP's Property magazine closed. Staff redundant.

Anonymous said...

ITP just slashed another 11 staff today from Harpers and Viva.
The mighty midget Akawi, still hides behind the tinted glass of his office.....

Anonymous said...

Emirates Homes is gone...

Anonymous said...

It is really very sad to see this happening to ITP. Seriously, it is simply heart-rend... sorry wait.. cooool, i found an old M&M down my sofa..nice... sorry what was I saying?

Anonymous said...

ITP have laid off 60 people apparently.

Anonymous said...

18:34

It's ITP "has" laid off 60 people...

Little wonder you were let go.

Dumbass!

Anonymous said...

Apparently parts of Time Out will be shut down - London are rumoured to be very angry...

Anonymous said...

anon 18.45
House style is ITP in the plural. Like football teams. And possibly because plural is needed for all the egos

Anonymous said...

60 is not too large a number. Probably around 13% of ITP's total work force.

I doubt very much the company needed to do it yet. Ad revenues were good right up until the end of the last quarter.

That means ITP are making these decisions based on Jan and the first part of Feb. January and February are always difficult - could ITP have moved too quickly?

Possibly, but think about their monthly cash flow outwards. 550 people times 20K average = around a million dirhams leaves the company just for salaries alone.

Add print bills for magazines no one reads and you realize why ITP want to be ahead of the curve - mistime it by a couple of months and they could be in real trouble.

Frankly the company is doing what it needs to ensure its survival. And that is responsible.

Of course, there are ways of doing this, and I have no doubt that ITP have fucked that up completely. ITP's biggest weakness and strength is that it sees its employers as numbers - and I have no doubt the majority of those that have left have done so with a hugely bitter after taste.

Anonymous said...

Emirates Homes is Live and Kicking!

Anonymous said...

I really think that behind most of the comments here are a bunch of douchbags who think that they are better than everybody else. You are, I am sure, merely a bunch of racist jealous wiggity wacks. Increase the pus in your drinks to heal.

Anonymous said...

I really think that behind most of the comments here are a bunch of douchbags who think that they are better than everybody else. You are, I am sure, merely a bunch of racist jealous wiggity wacks. Increase the pus in your drinks to heal your sickening brains. Your punches against the Akawis and the Lebonese are not because they are nasty, but because you are jealous they succeeded. By Arabs, just like by Americans, the bigotry and racism you face is real, and in the open. By some British, it comes masked or euphemised or deflected into sarcasm. There is hope to fight the visible problems of Arabs but there is no hope for the hidden sickness with some British hacks here.

Anonymous said...

Why does everyone who is crap have to hide behind the racism card? Don't know you Akawi, but if that's the feedback you are getting, take it on the chin and learn from it.

And stop hiding in your office. People like leaders during times of crisis.

Anonymous said...

The whole of the top floor is now pretty much empty... Are we going to close the office in IMPZ and bring everyone back?

What a fiasco.

Anonymous said...

The property crash will bring down almost every business in Dubai - my advice to anyone employed locally is to get out now.
ITP should survive as a rump but will never be the same again - the game is up.

Anonymous said...

Racism is not a card, it is here and everywhere, naming certain people and one nationality, in a derogatory manner, while leaving the others is not that innocent thing. I have seen many British hacks, P Brantonst is one, ridiculing other Lebonise for winning gifts at press conferences while losing it with joy when he won another afterwards. I have a long list of hypocrites and their stories, I posted one here last year and it was one of those big ones. Others are soon to follow.
By the way, I am not Akawi, DMO, can verify my IP address, although I think he is a very decent fellow who has deservedly made it in Dubai while some of his jealous collogues are eating his dust, bon appetite.

Anonymous said...

12:46 - Wthe greatest of respect (of which very little is needed) the arseholes behind ITP's every little move are white Brits. And the Akawi family are from Syria not Lebanon you fuckwit. And i'm not calling you a fuckwit because of your colour.

Anyway, didn't Akawi used to make hi-fis?

Anonymous said...

Serafin used run a bunch of very shit companies in Norwich - will be heading back there soon?

Anonymous said...

My understanding is that ITP intend to reduce their lifetsyle titles down to the bare minimum of staff. Basically just an editor, designer and one sales staff.
If that's true then does than mean The Bride of Frankenstein, Rancid Sharp, will have to finally write some thing for Harper's? Surely not, they would be better off folding the magazine than run the risk of humiliating themselves with her copy.

Rather than getting rid of the editorial teams (those people that actually put the magazines together round which they used to wrap advertising) why doesn't the company look to make savings by cutting out some of the middle management. That's where you'll find the real rump of expense, and I use the word rump advisedly, Sue Holt!!
Combine that with a cross the board pay cut from senior staff and ITP can at least still produce publications worthy of advertising should be any money still out there.

Anonymous said...

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/547980-itp-cuts-magazines-and-jobs

Anonymous said...

Trimming middle management and cutting senior staff salaries doesn't even come close to the money it costs to print magazines that don't generate ad revenue. That's why magazines are shut down - reduce print costs and concentrate what ad revenue is left out there into fewer titles. When a company like ITP launches multiple titles in boom times they are just using a scattergun approach and anyone working in the media should understand the industry well enough to know that many of the titles are pure speculation - like property, or a gold rush.

Anonymous said...

Not a chance in hell, Yahoo my ass. When a company out of Dubai can go against any half witted nerd from Europe or the USA i will eat my hat.

Anonymous said...

i had a look at www.h2omedia.com - what a pretentious site. I hate them on principle.

Anonymous said...

If you place inexperienced people in senior management positions this lack of experience that you can get away with in easy times, comes back to haunt you when times get tough. They lack the necessary experience to make decisions.

Would anything actually change if some of the non revenue generating editorial directors/publishers in ITP went away for a month? If the answer is no,why are they being protected ??????

As a previous post mentioned, some of the big salaries in the company could be reduced to save the important revenue generators and journos who actually contribute daily (they are only on 15k a month!)

If ITP were still recruiting in December, this shows how badly planned this whole episode has been. Noone saw the warning signs last September when the rest of the world's economies started to falter? What about after the juddering halt of the Dubai property market (and the subsequent drop in property clients advertising)?

So if Robert surrounds himself with those who only got where they are by telling him how wonderful his beard looked every morning, then he is going to get bad advice when its needed most.......and knee jerk reactions in cutting key staff are going to continue to happen.

Anonymous said...

The Security, Fire and Safety mag was only launched in November. If I was an advertiser I would be fuming if I had spent in it. I guess though no one did, hence the closure. I wonder what will happen to the Indian investments. It seemed a step too far for them even in the boom times, as for now...

Anonymous said...

Kohl went yesterday I believe. Four gone at Ahlan today as well.

Anonymous said...

Emirates Woman to go quarterly? Whose hairbrained idea is that?

Anonymous said...

Just seen the news that Leavy and Johnson have left Motivate. Be interesting to see where they end up. Is anyone recruiting anywhere at the moment?

Anonymous said...

Can anyone tell me who is better to work for Petch or Southwell?

Anonymous said...

Jason has left Motivate already? he can hardly have had time to pack. Wonder how many months of 42k he banked.

Anonymous said...

two differnt beasts. One salesguy, one editorial

Anonymous said...

Southwell is way high in terms of editorial, Petch is a useless sales douchebag.

Anonymous said...

One of them looks like they should be starring in hardcore adult movies. The other looks like he should be producing hardcore adult movies. That's about it.

Anonymous said...

Look out Grimbsy Gazette or Seaweed Monthly or Insole Insider - some real talent is on it's way home. From one third world country to another slightly colder one, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Any of the senior management team at ITP care to explain (under condition of anonymity, as is traditional) why there has been a complete lack of internal communication about the redundancies and magazine closures?

Or is there absolutely no interest in putting a stop to the plummeting morale?

Before accepting a job in Dubai I read many of the comments on this blog about the lack of regard for employees, but I chose to find out for myself.

Unfortunately, most of the criticisms have turned out to be spot on.

Anonymous said...

ITP are just cunts - plain and simple.

No amount of staff members or sychophants pretending otherwise is going to change that.

And, not only are they cunts they are talentless cunts.

Unless of course you consider being a cunt a talent.

In ITP's case they are pathologically cunts - they would be cunts even if they were selling flowers - but I do think that, in his defence, Serafin might actually have some mental health issues - a mother complex maybe? After all he has married a woman almost 20years older.

Anonymous said...

ITP pays 15k a month? Don't make me laugh. That's an editor's wage - the assistants and deputies (ie. the people who actually do all the fucking work) earn about 25% less than that a month. You can tell who's editorial and who's sales - the editors are the ones with Toyota Echoes and the sales guys are the ones with the Maseratis.

Anonymous said...

Re: Feb 26th post of "Just seen the news that Leavy and Johnson have left Motivate". I very much doubt the latter has been let go.

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify, editor salaries at ITP range from AED18 to AED25,000.
Deputy editors earn AED13,000.
Senior designers are on about AED14,000
Junior designers are on AED9,000

Of course, all this may change radically in the next month...

Anonymous said...

ITP laid off 60 staff last week, but another 20 over the previous month.
In a newspaper report they announced that 90 would be retrenched in total. So more to come.

Anonymous said...

You can now count the ITP editors earning 25K on one hand, even one of the lucky few took a pay cut last week.
After an average month clocking up 250 to 300 hours at the sweatshop, most ITP'rs dont even make UK minimum wage.
Although the Senior Management have now agreed to make personal sacrifices by waiting a full 6 months before taking another trip to the Bentley dealership.

Anonymous said...

I was at ITP very briefly and negotiated my wage up to 25k a month as a starting wage.

My so-called 'boss' was fucking horrified (and so were the rest of my colleagues) when they realised I was earning so much more than them.

But then again none of them had any prior publishing record in any single paper, magazine or publishing company of note.

Perfect canon fodder to be exploited.

They were cowardly talentless cunts anyway.

Anonymous said...

Jason Leavy is still at Motivate, don't know where that came from? Same goes for Gina...

cherry said...

just a thought but if there was any transparency in the media market publishers would have had to actually offer quality to compete and sell magazines / papers etc rather than just bulk free distributing the detritus out there and therefore the subscription revenue would compensate for the huge loss in advertising revnue and therefore there would be significantly less redundancies as basically good quality media will survive and the bad will die. genius....

Anonymous said...

anon at 0845 - it was probably wishful thinking.

Anonymous said...

@11.00 Waste of a wish. If I was wanting to wishfully think in Dubai, it'd be that the huge human excrement-filled crator that Dubai has suddenly sunken into would disappear soon. It's visible from the moon apparently. And it's not called Palm Jumeirah.

Anonymous said...

Why is it wishful thinking? Is there any chance that one the morons on here can actually back up their bitching with real substance?

This isn't a place of discussion - it's a playground for silly name calling. Dubai's media is going through the worst time in its history, and what does DMO? Nothing but its usual round of ITP slagging and personal attacks.

Moderators - you sit by and watch it happen. Take some ownership, try and create a place for real discussion about our industry (and the people that are having such shit time in it at the moment). This ITP/Petch/Leavy bashing is purile.

Anonymous said...

to 16:30
Your Britian has suddenly sunken into worst hole than Dubai, I mean with the no photography allowed in public places and all that crap happening out there. You should be thankful that Dubai allows shooting photos like there is no fucking tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Leavy is looking around, evidently. His CV was doing the rounds in my office today - my boss asked me if I'd heard of the guy. I had, but only from on here. His CV is quite impressive actually - although it doesn't tally with what I know of the Dubai market ('the UAE's biggest newspaper launch to date' - surely that's The National, not ET/Business 24/7).
No idea who Gina Johnson is.

Anonymous said...

Why would he leave a good job in the UK to go back to Motivate, only to then hawk his CV around?!

First completely unfounded rumours that he's left, and now he's "trying to leave".

Wouldn't have an axe to grind, would you?

Anonymous said...

@2040 - ok let's look at it this way - The Times/Telegraph/Guardian/Independent all coming knocking on your door offering you a job. The only other option you have on the table is Gulf News.

Who do you pick?

The truth for most people in Dubai, is that Gulf News (or ITP/AMG, Petch's next nightmare) was the ONLY option. The UK is far more competitive with far higher standards.

And let's put it one more way - you're setting up a new English language magazine and you're recruiting key staff for key roles. Who do you pick? ITP/Gulf News staffer or established freelancer with diverse UK publishing career in top quality publications/UK press staffer?

You guys are going to have to realise that when you do get back to the UK (ok the Arabs will just stay there anyway so they don't count) your Dubai career will count for ZERO, ZILCH, NOTHING.

And also, there is no work in the UK either. All major papers and publishers are laying off, freelance budgets are being cut and many are leaving journalism. Many editors in the UK will just laugh when you tell them you worked on Ahlan etc.

My advice is to either sit it out in Dubai and pray the market turns (it won't cos the internet - the only growth area is too regulated) or come to the UK and pray you can get a minimum wage job.

And to be honest most of you deserve that.

You've lived off the back of some of most exploited workers on the planet in one of the most right wing places on earth.

Now it's your turn.

Anonymous said...

23:16. I don't even know them (Leavy/Johnson) but this place reported that they were made redundant. Seems to tally with the fact that my big boss has his CV.
Not sure exactly what he was doing in the UK either - some sort of publisher.
Still don't know what she does exactly.

anon_mediator said...

anon @19.41... a comment on behalf of the moderators: we do try and raise serious issues on this site. In case you hadn't noticed, the issue of mass redundancies across the board in UAE media is serious.
Second, we're hardly going to censor people who choose to vent, as that would be the very thing we argue against.
The very fact there are people posting here means it is an active discussion forum. The fact that most people are active in bashing a few individuals may be indicative of how people feel. Those that are subject to vitriol are senior staff members, so it's inevitable they would be a target.

Anonymous said...

"I mean with the no photography allowed in public places and all that crap happening out there. You should be thankful that Dubai allows shooting photos like there is no fucking tomorrow."

This is news to me, as far as I'm aware, photography in public places in the UK hasn't been banned. But try taking a picture of JBR and see how quick a security guard comes over and asks you to stop.

Anonymous said...

So, what magazines were sent to Room 101 this week? Anyone please? Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Is the wicked witch of the west still stirring her Cauldron up in ITP Men's Lifestyle?

Anonymous said...

Can someone please clarify the UAE labour law for those made redundant? ITP offers one month notice, but the CEO of a finance company in Dubai tells me the country's laws demand 3 months notice and pay. Anyone able to shed light on this?

Anonymous said...

dude/dudette, it's one day if the company wants it to be. Best hope you have signed a cast iron contract!

Anonymous said...

I believe that if the employer breaks a fixed term contract it's three months, but an open-ended one is one month. So if your employer suddenly offers to move you to an open-ended contact (as some apparently are) it might be time to dust off you cv.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't trust what Ben says

Anonymous said...

ITP are complete utter scumbags regarding payoffs and you may find yourself bogged down if you try to get the full extent of a contract.

I know of at least one person due a pay-off who was basically threatened by ITP that they'd hold onto his passport unless he signed the pay-off. Because of a visa complication they still had his passport and the clear implication was "if you try to test the contract we won't give you the pay-off and you'll have to speak to our lawyers to get your passport back."

As has been advised here before, be prepared to collect a few "souvenirs" on your way out.

Also, anyone who suffers any kind of horror story in Dubai should be very very vocal about it when getting out of there. Let your local, home-based journalist/media union know about your experiences and contact your student union so that graduates can be warned off.

Get it out there that Dubai companies such as ITP don't respect either talent or people and should be completely avoided.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the advice re the labour law/contract. Anyone else have experience with this?

Anonymous said...

It's a pity more journos don't know about this site. Someone with SEO expertise should link it to the various publishing companies' names so that future recruits are forewarned.

Anonymous said...

"Is the wicked witch of the west still stirring her Cauldron up in ITP Men's Lifestyle?"

Yes she is, it's great to hear such concern and compassion. Maybe you are one of the many people who has simply been expected to do their job properly and failed to deliver on expectations. Good luck in the future and may you never have to suffer what you seem so willing to wish on somebody else!

Anonymous said...

ITP management mostly deserve no compassion. They preside over a company that does not give a flying fuck about any of their staff - the more that are thrown onto the scrap heap the better.
And I don't think one of them is likely to get a similar position in any mature market place - largely because their work isn't up to "expectation".

Anonymous said...

Who is the wicked witch? Surely she can't be so bad?

Anonymous said...

Not sure if ENG's new magazines are going to last much longer. The debt seems to be catching-up with them. CCJ against them in the UK. By all accounts they have now pissed off too many people. How much longer can they trade?

Anonymous said...

I never had to work with her when I was there but I think you are referring to a person known as 'The Kraken' in other departments within ITP towers.

I count myself lucky I left that place a long time ago, it sounds terrible

Anonymous said...

Commenter 1: X is the way to go.
Commenter 2: Are you crazy? You shoulda Y when you X.
Commenter 3: Personally I prefer Z, the A is truly superior.
Commenter 1: Why do that when you can B?
Commenter 3: Typically when Z to preserve the A you must C. This provides naturally superior D and allows everyone who agrees to enjoy a superior enjoyment.
Commenter 4: All of that sounds disgusting. I just E.
Commenter 5: When you E, it only seems to make it more F, when it actuality you aren't solving the real problem.
Commenter 6: You people just think you're better than everyone else because you like E and F, when in reality both E and F are crap and G is obviously superior because of the H Process. E and F don't have the H process and therefore are inferior.
Commenter 7: Am I the only one that doesn't like A?

Commenter 8: To truly enjoy X you must I and J. This provides a better K. Also, it requires that you L and M, and don't forget the N. Do this and you'll have the best X ever.
When you E, it only seems to make it more F

i know exactly what you mean.

Anonymous said...

1200 - WTF? Are you tripping?

Anonymous said...

sounds like itp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7954553.stm

Anonymous said...

Ha ha no way! I remember the 'Wicked Witch'! I'd forgotten about her. She is okay really, does she still think nobody knows about her and the Editor of BoatOwner?

Anonymous said...

Looks like another one's about to bite the dust. Rumours suggest the print edition of Windows Middle East will cease to exist. The magazine is apparently going the online way.

Anonymous said...

Anyone heard of Corporate Publishing International. Heard they are doing great and have hired half of ITP. Someone definitely seems to know how to run a publishing business :)

Anonymous said...

CPI hiring from ITP??? Or taking sacked ITP employees which has always been the case...?

Hmmmmm