彭博首席内容官缘何重返时代公司

    时代公司拥有众多风格迥异的期刊。鉴于印刷版和分销渠道已经变得不那么重要，让《风格》( Style)、《财富》(Fortune)和《人物》( People)等杂志继续留在同一家公司还有没有具有说服力的商业理由？

    这个问题需要从多个角度来回答。首先，印刷版期刊并没有死。它依然很重要，印刷版发行量和广告收入正在不断增长的例子其实有很多。比如，我们最近购买了美国运通公司( American Express)旗下的多份杂志，从而收获了一些在它们占据的市场空间非常强势的品牌。当然，我们正在专注于开拓内容分销的新渠道，比如网络、手机和平板电脑等。但我并不认为，印刷版杂志即将寿终正寝。

    其次，我们拥有一批多样化的杂志，这种优势使得我们能够迅速响应拥有不同兴趣、职业和嗜好的读者的需求，从而为特定受众提供优质服务。然而，这也意味着，我们有机会创造跨越品牌的受众群体。比如，《财富》杂志拥有最具影响力商界女性会议和相关的特许经营权。我在想，有没有一种方式把它跟《造型》(In Style)、《人物》和《本质》(Essence)等杂志的5,000万读者联系起来？再比如，《财富》杂志定期在中国举办一个峰会，那么美国运通公司的杂志，比如说《旅游与休闲》(Travel & Leisure)，可不可以效仿这种做法呢？

    但我需要审慎行事，我才来了7天，还基本上处于聆听模式。或许有非常充分的理由把这些杂志分离开来，让它们独立运作，但我说的当然也是一个需要探索的领域。

    时代公司的深度报道模式能否长期坚持下去？

    当然可以，在数字化时代，深度报道肯定有生存空间。无论是分销到特定地理区域的印刷版，还是面向全球发行的电子版或者网络版，深度报道都将长期存在，我们将成为这种新闻的重要参与者。比如，《体育画报》就做了很多深度报道。这些报道传统上主要采用印刷版模式，但我也看到了一些配有视频的例子，这或许是另外一种叙事方式。

    时代华纳尚未宣布分拆的财务细节，比如时代公司需要承担多少债务。接受这份工作前，你是否了解这方面的信息？

    我不知道。我认为乔•瑞普将与时代华纳CEO杰夫•比克斯一起讨论这些事情。但我的确知道，当一家公司分拆资产的时候，确保分拆出来的部门能够取得成功，符合公司的整体利益。

    你将来会不会参与收购或者资产剥离业务？

    我认为，我的职责之一是在所有业务领域与乔•瑞普进行合作，但我的工作重点是产品开发。在这个领域，编辑的责任尤为重要。我希望我能够在战略层面上提供一些支持，但我想明确的是，我不是CEO，乔•瑞普才是CEO。

    如果时代公司给你一笔资金让你只收购一家公司，而且不设置目标，你会收购哪一家？

    LinkedIn公司。

    你有一个Twitter账户，但你从未发过言。为什么？

    我用Twitter了解其他人的想法，因为我很想知道公众正在想什么，当下流行什么话题。我一直在从事一份没有太多事情给大家说，而且也不能通过其他渠道发言的工作。（财富中文网）

    译者：叶寒

    Time Inc. has a diverse group of titles. As print and print distribution become less important, is there a strong business case for keeping In Style, Fortune and People as part of the same company?

    There are multiple answers to that. First, print is not dead. It remains important, and there are examples of publications that are growing in terms of print circulation and advertising. Our recent acquisition of the American Express magazines, for example, gives us some powerful brands in the space that they occupy. Certainly we are focused on new ways to distribute content -- web, mobile, tablet, etc. -- but I don't see an early demise of printed magazines.

    Second, the diversity of magazines we have enables us to serve specific audiences by responding to reader needs, interests, vocations and avocations. That also means, however, that we have opportunities to create audiences that cut across brands. For example, Fortune has these Most Powerful Women conferences and franchise, and I wonder if there is a way to somehow connect that with the 50 million readers of magazines like In Style, People and Essence. Or when Fortune does a conference in China, is there something we could do with those American Express, like Travel & Leisure.

    But, to be careful here, I'm only seven days into this job and am mostly in listening mode. There may be good answers for keeping those things separate and exclusive, but certainly it's an area of exploration.

    Is there a long-term future for long-form journalism at Time Inc?

    Yes, there is certainly room for long form in the digital age. Whether that is primarily in print distributed to certain geographic areas or as an e-book distributed globally or Web-based, there will be long form and we'll be players in it. Sports Illustrated, for example, does a lot of long form. Much of it has traditionally been in print, but I can see examples where, partially with enhanced video, that there may be another way to tell that story.

    Time Warner has not yet announced financial details of the spin-out, such as how much debt Time Inc. will have. Did you have some visibility into that before you took the job?

    I did not. I assume that's a conversation Joe Ripp will have with [Time Warner CEO] Jeff Bewkes. What I do know is that when companies spin out properties it is very much in their interest that the spin-out be successful.

    Will you have input into acquisitions and/or divestitures?

    I see part of my role as being a partner with Joe Ripp in every area of the business, but particularly in products where editorial is an important component. I would hope that I could provide some support at a strategic level but I want to be clear that I'm not the CEO. Joe is.

    If there was a single property that you could acquire for Time Inc., with money and availability being no object, what would it be?

    LinkedIn (LNKD).

    You have a Twitter account but have never tweeted. Why?

    I use Twitter (TWTR) to read what other people are thinking, because I am curious what's in the public mind and what is the conversation du jour. I've been in a position where there haven't been a lot of things I wanted to say to lots of people that I couldn't say via other means.