Wyatt Kash | Editor's Desk: New directions
Connecting state and local government leaders
GCN, FCW and Washington Technology plot new courses for covering government IT and policy.
Wyatt Kash.
Here's what is happening and what you can expect in the weeks ahead.
First, the management teams from both organizations looked long and hard at what we perceived to be the value our various properties bring to readers and the broader communities we serve. Then, given our combined resources, we looked at how we could deliver that value more effectively.
One surprising discovery was the degree to which GCN and FCW ' despite our similarities ' reach different audiences. A careful review of our subscriber files showed that just 12 percent of the 195,000 subscribers who receive GCN and FCW take both magazines. What the numbers affirmed: Readers see different strengths in each publication ' a result of the different ways each focuses on the government IT market.
We also recognized that competition between FCW and GCN came with restraints. As each publication tried to be the first to break a story, the reality was that many other important stories didn't get covered.
The conclusion: Take the collective expertise of the 40 journalists ' and other professionals who help us cover the government technology industry across our newly combined organization ' and focus their efforts more effectively in three primary areas:
- The policy and management decisions that determine how technology and related will support the business of government;
- How information technology is being managed and deployed inside government, and how emerging technology developments will impact that work;
- How the broader system integrator and contractor community is increasingly involved in meeting the government's needs.
In essence, these will be the driving missions reflected in the pages of FCW, GCN and Washington Technology, respectively.
By more effectively deploying our news teams, we'll be able to report on more stories. By focusing on the diverse interests of agency executives, policy-makers, program managers, IT and network managers, and system integrators, we'll be better able to inform our readers and help them do their jobs more effectively. You'll begin to see this new focus in print and online beginning in March.
E-mail: wkash@gcn.com
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