He’s a “Weird Cat”

by Karen Stearns on May 14, 2009

That’s what Jason Pontin laughingly calls himself. Pontin, editor and publisher of M.I.T.’s Technology Review magazine, was Russ Capper’s featured guest on The Businessmakers Show this past weekend. Obviously, he has a sense of humor, but he’s also brilliant and he is brutally honest. During his BusinessMakers interview, he makes observations based on personal experience and reaches conclusions that, well, most of us know instinctively are true but hard to admit. While he acknowledges that print media and online media address two different audiences and have different strengths, he also believes that print media is no longer sustainable as it currently exists.

True, the print industry is in crisis—it’s in “a tricky place,” Pontin calls it. Newspapers and magazines both are struggling under the competition of information now available online, and advertising and subscriptions for ALL print media continue to slip. The signs have been there for years, but few had the vision, or the courage, to act. Many publishers that have charged for online content have not quite got the formula right—the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune and many more print publications have announced online fees with varying degrees of success. Hearst Corp. is in development with an “e-reader” that could include content from any combination of Hearst magazines or newspapers.

Soon after Pontin joined Technology Review in 2004, he began a strategic overhaul of the magazine, seeking to create an electronic publishing company with a model that is sustainable; he says his goals have largely been met. Pontin delights in “the beautiful parts” of electronic publishing that provide him with immediate feedback and tell him what his readers want. He has embraced the digital world of the future while using the same expertise to make the print model more effective.

Pontin’s interviews are inspiring on so many levels. Pontin tells of mistakes he made earlier in his career. You can bet he won’t make those same mistakes a second time, but neither is he shying away from making the next controversial decision. And he has made some very controversial decisions. This summer, Technology Review will begin requiring paid subscriptions for its online content. Hats off to a Weird Cat at the top of his game and still willing to take a chance.