mediabistro.com Hires Elizabeth Spiers As New Editor-in-Chief

NEW YORK, October 14, 2004—mediabistro.com announced today that it has hired Elizabeth Spiers as its new editor-in-chief. Spiers will step down from her post at New York magazine and start at mediabistro.com full-time on November 1st. She fills the vacancy created by the departure of Jesse Oxfeld last month.

Spiers will spearhead a material expansion of mediabistro.com’s content offerings and site redesign, which will include the incorporation of niche-specific weblogs, two of which (TVNewser.com for the cable and broadcast news industry and GalleyCat.com for the book publishing industry) have already been launched. The redesigned site, which will include a media and pop-culture column written by Spiers, is expected to go live by January 31st, 2005.

"Elizabeth is the absolute best candidate for this job," says mediabistro.com’s publisher, Kyle Crafton. "As our site’s content advances beyond one-a-day features and profiles of media personalities to a more dynamic model, providing links to news and original analysis across a much broader spectrum of the media industry than we’re currently covering, Elizabeth brings to the table a great deal of fluency in the uses of the blog format, as well as a sharp ear for picking up on buzz and identifying trends. We’re also thrilled about her business background, which we’ll rely on as we continue to pioneer profitable services in the growing field of community websites."

"Given recent screaming headlines about forged memos, presidential debate coverage, and subpoenaed journalists, I think this is a great time to re-evaluate the way the media industry covers itself," says Spiers. "As we expand the breadth and depth of coverage and analysis on mediabistro.com, we’re well-positioned to be on the cutting edge of that. I’m very excited about the opportunity to build the site into something that’s truly useful, entertaining and, ultimately, indispensable."

mediabistro.com, founded in 2000 by CEO and president Laurel Touby, is an on- and offline resource for media professionals. It provides job listings and professional training, organizes exclusive cocktail parties for media professionals around the country, and publishes daily original content about the media business. mediabistro.com has 300,000 registered users, has experienced at least 50 percent annual growth in its sales every year since its founding, and became profitable in 2003.

CONTACTS:
Kyle Crafton, publisher of mediabistro.com

212-929-2588 x317

Elizabeth Spiers

[contact publisher to arrange phone interview]