Profile #26 in Our Continuing Series on Marketing Journalists

Michael Nutley
Editor
New Media Age (NMA)
St Giles House
Centaur Communications
50 Poland Street
London
W1V 4AX
Telephone: +44 020 7970 4000
Fax: +44 020 7943 8169
Email: michael.nutley@centaur.co.uk [please do not send press releases here]
http://www.newmediazero.com


-> Circulation as of June 2001:

15,000+ paid subscription and newsstand copies sold per week.

Readers are a mixture of client-side and agency-side, and include traditional as well as Internet-only department leaders.


-> Nutley's background:

Nutley completed a degree in Chemical Engineering at Manchester University, in the north of England. Deciding that he hated it, he applied for about a hundred jobs until he met the editor of Communications Engineering International who was willing to take a chance on him as Features Editor.

When asked whether he saw it as a huge leap up the journalism ladder, Nutley jokes, “There was only a team of three at that time on the publication, so not that great.”

Later he joined the B2B trade magazine LeisureWeek for six years, and then spent a year as publisher of specialist newsletters (e.g. Brand Strategy, Sports Marketing, Customer Loyalty Today, Retail Finance Strategies) at Centaur, the publishers of NMA.

Centaur promoted Nutley to Editor of NMA in July 2000.

When asked why he likes his job Nutley replies, “I love the industry now because it’s so dynamic, so creative and so open. There’s a willingness to share information and talk about what’s happening which is refreshing and it’s a fun place to be as a journalist right now.”


-> Editorial coverage:

NMA, which is published Wednesdays, is one the UK’s leading new media publications covering online publishing, advertising, marketing and e-commerce. It was launched in 1995.

Each weekly issue covers market developments throughout all aspects of new media internet: Interactive TV, e-commerce, online publishing plus wireless and push technology.


-> How to pitch Nutley

Nutley says his top PR headaches are:

1. Being telephoned more than one about the same press release drives him crazy.

2. Asking when you are going to use a press release is worse.

3. PRs that have never seen the magazine, and are pitching stories that are not appropriate. “Some haven’t it got the courtesy to check that it is appropriate for the magazine before that send the press release and then call to ‘chase’ it.”

Nutley adds, “What really bugs me is the lack of interest in the magazine by PRs and not pitching what is relevant, this is just rude, especially if I’m bothered unnecessarily."

4. Unnecessary long press releases, which are not easy to read, digest, and do not get the story across quick enough.

Nutley says, "Generally the more concise the press is release is, the better. If someone happens to send me through pages and pages of text, do they expect to work my way through all of that stuff? I want to be able to tell that it is important to the magazine by reading one page, and then I can follow it up.”


-> Editorial Deadlines

Deadline for the publication is every Tuesday.


-> Freelancing Opportunities

Nutley says that they are always on the look out for good writers because that so few understand NMA's market. He advises, “Read the magazine and get a gist of what we would be looking for. It also helps to have some clips and experience of that you have done before to show you understand the magazine's subject and its audience.”

“We have very specific requirements and a freelancer would be better off pitching feature ideas, rather than bashing it out and then sending it in. You would be saving your time contacting the features editor and getting a commission from them, because you won’t be wasting your time."


-> Do you accept contributed articles?

Articles are not accepted from companies. However, NMA does publish an opinion column.

In order to be published, an opinion column must be a genuine comment from a significant person within the industry, not as Nutley phrases it, “PR puff just cooked up to get someone’s name in the publication.”

He also explains, “It’s rare that pieces are accepted that have been sent in unsolicited, and have been written by someone on spec. This is because it will be unusual that they will match the magazines editorial requirements anyway."


-> Where you can meet Nutley:

Nutley would terrified to be out and accosted by PRs in NMA’s local haunt for example. “The best way to get hold of me would be calling or emailing me,” he says.


-> Nutley's favorite business publications:

Nutley’s absolute favorite is Blue Print because in his opinion they do what they do brilliantly. Other publications include Computer Weekly, The Register, Silicon.com and Wired.