Former Bloomberg and Protocol reporter Joe Williams is not your typical pitch target. He does write a weekly Substack newsletter called Billable Hours, in which he writes about enterprise tech topics. But time has marched on…
When between jobs, otherwise inaccessible tech editors have the time to explain how they view their own work. When they do, tech PR must take note.
Protocol lasted nearly three years. Such a shame. It was a publication that absolutely, positively should have succeeded. Why didn’t it? The official explanation: economic headwinds. Other factors might have been at play.
One year ago Tom Krazit Tweeted: “…some personal/Protocol news: I’m now the Enterprise Editor for Protocol | Enterprise, overseeing coverage and planning for a big expansion. We are hiring for five (5!) new enterprise reporters to work with me and @JoePWilliams31…”
Each June we study Similarweb data to see which Tier 1 brands are on the march. This year, far and away, it’s Protocol and Fortune.
PR pros often wonder how to measure the influence of a particular publication. Similarweb measures audience size and that’s great. How do you measure a publication’s relationship with its readers?
Apart from the new targets, there’s much to grasp about Protocol’s new investments in enterprise tech edit. In the biggest picture, Protocol owner Axel Springer is investing in Protocol across the board.
As TechCrunch is to funding news and hot startups, Protocol is to enterprise computing. Last year you couldn’t say that, especially after go-to reporter Joe Williams departed for Bloomberg. This year you totally can. Protocol recently hired three enterprise reporters and seeks two more.
Protocol has not only hired a boatload of top journalists in its first 18 months, but also has recruited almost 200 contributors whose work appears in a thought leadership vertical called Braintrust. If you represent thought leaders, you’ll enjoy this Q&A with Protocol associate editor Kevin McAllister — your pitch contact — and Protocol president Tammy Wincup.
PR pros can learn a lot about Protocol Enterprise as a brand — and about the art of interviewing — by watching the Mar. 9 Protocol Live web event, in which senior Protocol reporters Tom Krazit and Joe Williams interview executives from Google and industrial IoT startup Webee.
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
Tomorrow at 1:05p PDT, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas will be interviewed by WSJ reporter Deepa Seetharaman as part of this year’s WSJ Tech Live event. It might be awkward, because on Monday, WSJ parent News Corp. sued Perplexity for appropriating News Corp. content. Deepa stands to land the interview of the year if Aravind shows up. His lawyers will probably advise him not to.
The Atlantic soon will publish 12 print editions a year, up from ten. “The greatness of print and especially a print magazine is that it sits still for you,” EIC Jeffrey Goldberg tells CNN. “It doesn’t beep and flash and demand that you do things.”
Here’s a true story. An Oct. 8 Adweek headline says, ‘Press Releases Have Become Way Too Hyperbolic.’ The deck says, ‘Experts Warn the Loss of Credibility Could Lead to Catastrophe.”
TechCrunch redesigned this week. Still green, less clutter. Built for the phone. Events and newsletters rank higher in the home page scroll than startups, venture and AI. No enterprise section. Parent Yahoo invested this money to build engagement. More changes due in 2025, EIC Connie Loizos says.
Adweek’s Mark Stenberg reports that Wired is getting into the awards business. The Wired 101 Awards will debut in October. Be on the lookout for the announcement.
BI’s publishing software knows what you’ve clicked on before and where you came from. Through Google Analytics, BI also knows how all readers react to certain content. Once you visit, BI knows whether to ask you to subscribe, or to register, or just to let you see everything for just that one visit. Conversions rose 75 percent this year. Digiday got the scoop (subscription required).
