No one knows the entire story, but here's today's big media story which has absolutely nothing to do with Anna Nicole Smith ... It appears that on Thursday of this week, Primedia, a Wall Street/publishing outfit which has among its holdings many of the automotive magazines which used to be part of the Petersen Publishing empire, and which also eventually bought-up many other of the so-called automotive "enthusiast" or "buff books", purchased a Canadian publishing company called VerticalScope Inc., and their Modified Automotive Group (MAG), including Modified Magazine, Modified Luxury & Exotics Magazine, Modified Mustangs Magazine, and their related event partnerships and websites. Then, the next day, Friday, February 9th, Primedia announces their Board of Directors has "authorized the company to explore the sale" of their Enthusiast Media Segment, which includes more than 75 magazines, 100 websites, 70 events, two television programs, 400 branded products, and such well-known brands as Motor Trend, Automobile, Automotive.com, and other enthusiast pubs such as Equine.com, Power & Motoryacht, Hot Rod, Snowboarder, Stereophile, Surfer, and Wavewatch.com. Why? Because these gal-laden, generally poorly-written books "skew toward a younger demographic", says Primedia's press release on the subject. Also, the sale of the Enthusiast Media Group will be used to "pay down debt" by Primedia, which should make all the employees there feel real good about themselves and their company.
It's no secret that Motor Trend and Automobile are "not what they used to be", under Primedia's 
ownership. Over two decades ago, I spent a year or so as Feature Editor at Petersen's "4Wheel-Off-Road", one of the first and to this day still one of the most popular of the "4x4" and "off-road" magazines. Shortly after I left the outfit to go to work for Mickey Thompson and help him stage the first "Off-Road Championship Grand Prix" at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Bob Petersen sold his company for somewhere around one-half Billion dollars to Primedia. I like to think the additional value I had brought to the company helped him push the price that high. Or maybe it was because I left. Now, if I remember correctly, and every reader is invited to correct me, as always, Primedia sold the company then eventually bought it back and has owned it since. Those "old" Petersen mags have been around the block more times than a 12-year old learning to drive mom's 88.
It's also no secret that Primedia has not had the best of luck in developing magazines aimed at that all-crucial "younger demo". So clearly they have decided to sell-off their automotive properties aimed at "old-timers" and simply buy a company from Canada, in business for only five years, and try to develop those youth-skewing properties into the money-filled pit which Primedia's Enthusiast Media Segment should have been, but through rank mis-management, according to many who work there, never achieved.
Rather than hire younger editors and writers, or even encourage their current crop of "old" editors and writers to seek out such new talent, it's becoming clear that Primedia is simply going to be satisfied selling-off their current properties and literally buying a new generation of automotive journalists and enthusiasts, as skilled or un-skilled as they may be, as experienced or not as they are.
I passed this info along late this afternoon to a top man in the automotive aftermarket, one who's name those "in the know" would instantly recognize --- He had just come to his west coast home from a week at the Chicago Auto Show and had not yet heard this news. His immediate reaction: "What's going to happen to all the people at Motor Trend and their other mags?"
What, indeed.
Jack Roush and Steve Saleen may have replaced Carroll Shelby as the horsepower god for the 
majority of American enthusiasts, as another website recently opined, but it appears there are a bunch of writers, editors and photogs who are going to be looking for non-existent work ... Whether the "Old Petersen" mags continue to exist in their traditional printed form remains to be seen, whether they go all-digital and all-web is still to be determined. One thing is for certain: While the thought of Angus MacKenzie and Matt Stone running around in fat pants, wife-beaters and Van's with "MT" tats on their abs is a frightening one --- They and their ilk may have to lose 30 years really fast if they intend to continue bringing home journalism paychecks.
Click on this line to read the release about Primedia buying the Canadian company.
And you know what the ultimate irony of all this is? The more I thought about this whole affair today, the more I understand exactly what Primedia is doing and why. They are capturing a new generation, captuirng the future. It's the end of an era, officially, and one either lowers themselves to what passes for "automotive journalism" these days to keep a check coming in, or cancels their subs to everything but Automotive News ... Primedia is, when all is said and done, right in their decisions.
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