Here are the links to the last two sections of the interview with Brian Fuller, the recently resigned editor in chief of Electronic Engineering Times.
Part One link
Part Two link
The quality of part two is less than the first. It was so large I had to do it in Quicktime.
As mentioned, the interviews occurred at the Design Automation Conference in June 2007 in San Diego on the yacht Antigua. A week after the interview, CMP Media, parent company of EE Times, laid off 200 people, mostly editorial, with a significant portion coming from EE Times itself. One week after the layoff, Brian resigned.
There has been a lot of discussion around the net and the water coolers in the Silicon Valley about a perceived conspiracy in all of this, especially against Brian. So I met with Brian, as well as laid-off editor Richard Goering and assistant publisher David Blaza in the weeks following the downsizing. I've also talked with several other EE Times editors and CMP corporate executives and have a pretty clear idea what happened and why. Let it be said here, definitively, no conspiracy was involved. It was strictly a business decision created by two things: decreasing advertising revenues and changing reader patterns.
The fact is that corporate marketing patterns in the electronics industry are killing business-to-business media and forcing it to change how it covers technology and the corporations that create it. To a large extent, the media has dedicated itself to providing technology companies with coverage that they, by and large, request. That decision has caused readership of certain industries to decline in readership of certain types of articles. The publications that are succeeding have returned to the previous format of writing what the readers want to read about. They want to read about innovation and they want to read about how do better do their job. What they don't want to read are corporate marketing messages. They don't want to read news release quotes the repeat those messages. They don't want to read about the only things technology companies feel comfortable talking about.
Many companies will say that they can't say anything about those things because they are competitive advantages for them and their customers. If that's the attitude you want to take, then get ready to never be heard from again.
Here's a piece of advice: When you think about your competition, don't just think about the three or four companies who do a similar thing you do. Think about the 5,000 start up companies in the US who don't do anything close to what you are doing. All of those companies are competing for the same corporate budgets you are seeking to tap, as well as the venture capital funds you want to support you. Those who get noticed are the those who get the money.
The world is changing. Evolve or perish.
Brian, I know you're out there, trudging about the great Pacific northwest. Thanks for the insight.

BTW, I've redone the podcast page To put all of the interviews with Brian Fuller in order. Here's the link to the list site: link