The Standard Announces Launch of Industry Standard Europe; English-Language Newsweekly and Daily Web Site Chronicle Europe's Burgeoning Internet Economy

Business Wire, Oct 24, 2000

Business Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2000

Standard Media International ("The Standard") announced last week the launch of the U.K.-based Industry Standard Europe, an English-language weekly newsmagazine and daily Web site to provide business intelligence on Europe's Internet Economy.

This launch is part of the expanding Industry Standard product line which includes earlier launches of the publication in Australia, Switzerland and Norway, with further launches planned throughout Europe in the months ahead.

The Standard's U.S. publication, The Industry Standard, launched by IDG in April 1998 and dubbed a "must-read" by Time magazine, has been one of the most successful magazine launches in publishing history, quickly becoming an indispensable source for Internet business leaders hungry for in-depth news, information and services that help them leverage the Internet Economy in their businesses.

"Readers of The Industry Standard in the U.S. have found the combination of a Web site featuring daily news, research and job listings -- along with a news magazine to summarize and analyze the week -- to be a very useful way to stay on top of the important developments in the Internet Economy," said John Battelle, chairman, president and CEO of The Standard. "Building upon this model, we plan to provide the European market with this English language publication based in the U.K., along with strong publications in each European country."

"It is clear that Europe is integral to the next big phase of growth in the global Internet Economy, especially now that many countries are free of strong regulatory governments," said Neil Thackray, managing director of the Industry Standard Europe and CEO of Standard Media Europe, a U.K.-registered company wholly owned by The Standard. "The reactions of prospective readers and advertisers to the magazine has been overwhelmingly positive, with each group eagerly awaiting a European version of the U.S. publication infused with its own voice and attitude."

Valuable Intelligence For Entering the European Internet Marketplace

A team of Industry Standard Europe reporters in London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and Zurich will provide up-to-the-minute breaking news on all important pan-European Internet business stories, as well as news analysis, features and commentary on the European Net Scene. There will be a special focus on the application of broadband and wireless technology to the Internet.

In an addition, the online Metrics section will provide a detailed and comprehensive array of statistics and information on the size, scale and penetration of the Internet Economy in Europe. The Web site will also include Job Shop, an online marketplace for Net jobs in Europe. Readers will be able to link, via the Web site, to the stories and services of the U.S. site as well as other local language sites throughout Europe and the world.

According to Michael Parsons, editorial director of the new Industry Standard Europe, "National newspapers in Europe, even those with large business sections and numerous technology reporters, have been struggling to keep up with this incredibly complex and fast-moving Internet story -- we've found a focused weekly magazine to be the best print format in which to make sense of the Internet Economy."

Industry Standard Europe will be a comprehensive resource for researching the businesses, people and metrics that make up the Internet economy in Europe via the daily updated Web site, the weekly print edition and daily and weekly newsletters. Standard Media Europe also plans to offer conferences in Europe.

The Team behind Industry Standard Europe

The managing director of the Industry Standard Europe is Neil Thackray, who also serves as CEO of Standard Media Europe. Thackray was formerly Executive Director at Miller Freeman publishing in the U.K.

Thackray is joined by Editorial Director Michael Parsons and Editor-in-Chief James Ledbetter, both veterans of the U.S. edition of the magazine. Parsons has served as Deputy Editor of The Standard in the U.S., and Ledbetter has served as New York Bureau Chief for The Standard and is a former media critic for The Village Voice.

Other key staff members include:

-- Web General Manager: Matt McAllister, formerly U.S. Web General Manager

-- Design Director: Nicole Chiala, formerly U.S. Design Director

-- European Editor: Bruno Giussani

-- Managing Editor: Paul Mungo, formerly writer for Financial Times' magazine,
The Business

-- News Editor: Mike Butcher, formerly Editor of New Media Age magazine

-- Features Editor: Georgia Cameron-Clarke, formerly Deputy Editor of the Daily
Telegraph's Connected section

-- Ideas Editor for New Gig and Intellectual Capital: Victor Smart, formerly
Editor of the UK monthly magazine Management Today

-- Metrics Editor: Catrina Ure, formerly researcher at MSN.co.uk and the
European incubator, e-Souk

-- Paris Bureau Chief: Kristi Essick, formerly a writer with Toronto-Insider,
the European monthly magazine