Brill Media Holdings, publishers of the media watchdog magazine Brill’s Content, formally unveiled its e-commerce shopping service called Contentville.com — and left behind a slew of unanswered questions.
Rumors were swirling in the industry late yesterday that Steve Brill planned to relinquish his role as editor-in-chief of the magazine, to help silence some critics of the newest venture.
Brill and David Kuhn, editorial director of Contentville.com, did not return calls by presstime.
Contentville.com initially intends to offer items such as magazine subscriptions and books. It is being backed by a slew of media companies, including CBS, NBC and Primedia — owner of New York and Seventeen magazines.
Other partners in the venture include EBSCO, a magazine-subscription marketer; Ingram Book Group, a wholesale distributor of books and magazines; Lightning Print, a provider of books on demand, and hedge-fund manager James Cramer.
Brill’s New Media backers, however, may create a conflict of interest for the magazine Brill’s Content, which bills itself as an independent watchdog of consumer magazines.
“It’s beyond belief for me that there is no conflict of interest,” said Samir Husni, a University of Mississippi professor who tracks magazine launches. “Sooner or later the conflict will happen. Then we [will] need another media-watch magazine to watch Brill’s Content.”
The magazine has been plagued by high staff turnover and lower than expected ad sales since its launch in June 1998.
“Is there a business there?” asked one media observer. “How do they compete on price and customer service with people like Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com?”