Ronald Riska, Editor in Chief of Austrian title Elektronik Report will now have responsibility for sales, alongside his existing editorial role. Ronald will work with Stefan Teubel, who remains sales manager.
Whilst my heart says that separation of the editorial and advertising roles has to be the best approach, I’m realistic enough to appreciate that this isn’t always possible. In fact in much of the B2B trade press editors are obviously driven by commercial as well as editorial considerations. So rather than condemn this move as a degradation of standards in the electronics media, I’d like to see it as an honest assessment of Ronald’s role.
Although I’m not getting upset about this change, I will be watching closely. Once editors are openly involved in advertising, it is essential that they continue to think long term: creating a magazine that has the high-quality independent writing that makes engineers want to read it, and therefore advertisers want to buy space in it. I’m confident that Ronald knows this, and will be strong enough to ensure that the long-term future of the publication is never sacrificed with short-term puff pieces about advertisers.
