Democracy Affirming Technology Restoring Trust Online (Instagram Post) (1)

SIIA Statement on the American Data Protection and Privacy Act (ADPPA)

by PolicyPress Release

Today the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) issued this statement on the American Data Protection and Privacy Act (ADPPA). This statement can be attributed to SIIA President Jeff Joseph:

In advancing the American Data Protection and Privacy Act (ADPPA), the House Energy & Commerce Committee has taken a critical step forward towards comprehensive, uniform federal privacy legislation. This legislation will have enormous implications for individuals, U.S. commerce, the values underlying U.S. democracy, and U.S. global competitiveness. 

As the bill moves to the House floor, we encourage members to carefully consider the implications of key provisions of this legislation. The bill has moved swiftly and changed considerably during the markup process. We have concerns that the version that came out of Committee yesterday moves away from compromise positions in ways that would undermine consumer protection and lead to increased costs or reduced quality services for consumers and open the door to a greater, unworkable patchwork of U.S. privacy laws. A federal data privacy law must not replicate the mistakes we have seen states make in passing consumer privacy laws that are unclear and exacerbate, rather than mitigate, confusion about consumer protections and data rights. Therefore, key stakeholders across the business, civil society, consumer advocacy, and government and nonprofit communities need additional time to provide feedback and work with Committee members to get the bill to the right place.

We urge Congress to carefully consider additional feedback and a more robust approach, which will likely require more time before the bill goes to the House floor for consideration.

SEanGriffey

CEO Sean Griffey: ‘The Sky’s the Limit’; Industry Dive to Be Acquired by Informa for $525 Million

by Media

“The best days continue to be ahead of us, but today is a milestone for Industry Dive. I’m grateful for the team both past and present that built this amazing company and for our new partners at Informa who share our ambitious vision for the future.”

—Industry Dive CEO Sean Griffey on Twitter this morning, after it was announced that Informa had acquired the media company for an enterprise value of $525 million

At BIMS 2019—the last in-person BIMS we held before this fall’s event (to be announced in coming days!)—Griffey fireside chatted with Meg Hargreaves, now the company’s COO (pictured here), about the then seven-year-old company’s tremendous growth and its commitment to superior journalism.

One of those content reaffirmations “actually came from this conference a couple years ago,” he said. “I was struck that no one said the words ‘journalism’ and ‘content’ in a two-day period. Breakout panels talked about lead generation in buyer periods.” Every article needed to be infused with someone’s purchase intent, Griffey was told. So he just thought that believing “every story should tell something about people’s buying habits is a mistake. As an industry we can swing too far and become something we’re not. Eight years ago you couldn’t come to a conference and not talk about content journalism. I think we have to look at that.

“A lot of people in media try to run from the term ‘media,'” Griffey added. “They try to be something else… So we’re a media company, and were going to run to it.”

That run has culminated in a signed agreement, initially reported by Axios, for Industry Dive to be acquired by Informa for an enterprise value of $525 million. Both are members of our AM&P Network.

“It’s a great outcome for Industry Dive, which has grown its business to over $100 million in annual revenue over the past 10 years,” Axios wrote, putting Industry Dive at a cash value of $389 million. But that number that doesn’t include potential earn-outs based on revenue growth or equity that’s being rolled over into the new company.

In an email to my colleague Tony Silber today, Griffey wrote: “From a valuation standpoint, I think price reflects the value of the audiences we have built, the content we create, the data sets that we collect, and the scalability of the model. We are a large, scaled, and highly profitable media company that crosses numerous verticals.

“In terms of the deal timing, it was just the right time. The business has been accelerating and deserved a larger partner with more resources. We found that with Informa.”

Griffey sees multiple benefits in the new arrangement. “We are incredibly bullish on not just our standalone prospects but what we can do with Informa in particular. Informa has a vast number of untapped business audiences that we can use as the foundation for new or future Dive publications. We both are building significant first-party datasets and see the value of tying online and offline activity to truly understand audience behavior and needs. There are a number of products we can launch both online and offline with our combined resources. The sky’s the limit when it comes to possibilities.”

On Informa’s side, Group Chief Executive Stephen A. Carter said this (in Industry Dive’s release): “Like Informa, Industry Dive champions the specialist. Its high quality, targeted business insights have built an enviable following across a range of B2B markets which, when combined with our own portfolio of specialist B2B brands, will create more opportunities to grow B2B audiences, expand into new B2B markets and create value for customers.”

A winner of 10 Neal Awards earlier this year, Industry Dive now counts their audience close to 13 million, through 27 web-based publications and more than 70 daily and weekly email newsletters. Their employees number about 380, with 115 working in editorial roles. All will remain. Industry Dive will continue to operate as an independent brand with the same management team, within the Informa Tech division.

Look for more Dive publications to be launched from this acquisition, as well as new in-person events, an area Industry Dive had not previously ventured into.

Gary Nugent, CEO of Informa Tech, said, “Industry Dive is highly successful at building B2B audiences through world-class specialist content. We are very excited to bring its expertise, reach and colleagues onboard, as part of our expanding focus on B2B digital services and building known, engaged and marketable audience communities around our leading specialist brands.”

Informa actually acquires Industry Dive from Falfurrias Capital Partners, a Charlotte-based private equity firm that took a majority equity interest in the company in 2019. “Over the past three years, the Falfurrias team has helped realize Industry Dive’s potential for continuing to scale our business into new markets, products, and services,” Griffey said. “We have enjoyed tremendous success and growth with the Falfurrias team and thank them for setting us up for our next chapter with Informa.”

As for any take-home lessons, Griffey again emphasized value. “Our initial premise was always that there is incredible value in niche markets. This is just a validation of that idea. Overall, media can be fairly simple and is an execution game. If you create something valuable for a valuable target audience, you’ll have opportunities to monetize it.”

JJ

SIIA Says Goodbye to President Jeff Joseph

by Press Release
On behalf of the SIIA Board of Directors, I extend our congratulations to SIIA President Jeff Joseph on his new position at the renowned global communications firm BCW Global. Jeff has been a steadfast leader for SIIA, the premier trade association for the information industry, during an unprecedented time in our world. While he will be missed, he is leaving the organization stronger than ever. The SIIA Board has convened a search committee to identify a new president and we are confident our next president will continue the thoughtful and inclusive leadership Jeff has brought over the past several years.”
BCWBCW
Washington, D.C. Communications Veteran Jeff Joseph Joins BCW as President, Washington, D.C.
BCW, a leading global communications agency, announced today that Jeff Joseph has joined the agency as President, Washington, D.C., effective August 8th. In this role, Joseph will be responsible for business growth, client satisfaction and talent management in the market.
BenFidler

‘You Have to Earn Their Trust and Respect’; Author Talks About His 2022 Neal Award Winning Profile

by Media

This is the second article in our series on the 2022 Neal Award winners—what makes them special, what’s replicable, and what lessons we can learn from them. BioPharma Dive senior editor Ben Fidler had followed cardiologist Sek Kathiresan for some time before he correctly sensed that “the moment was right” to write a profile.

Industry Dive won 10 Neal Awards this year. When you read one of the winning articles—Heart Attacks Struck Sek Kathiresan’s Family. He’s Devoted His Life to Stopping Them—by Fidler, you can see why. It reads like a short story, with emotions, plot twists and varied time intervals.

Fidler, a BioPharma Dive senior editor, spent months on the story, which focused on the physician-executive behind Verve—a biotechnology company created with a singular focus: to protect the world from heart disease. Through various conversations, Fidler learned that Kathiresan’s brother, uncle and grandmother died of heart attacks, and how those tragedies shaped his mission. He also learned of the “drive and vision that drew other researchers to Kathiresan’s side.”

My father and uncle died of heart attacks at young ages, so the story really hit home for me—as I’m sure it must have for so many others. I reached out to Fidler, who was on vacation in Rome at the time, to talk about the article and Industry Dive’s commitment to great journalism. Here are his emailed responses.

AMPLIFY: How did you come up with the idea? Did you know the amazing story you had or did a lot come out later?

BEN FIDLER: I’ve always found personal profiles to be the most rewarding and impactful stories to write. People love reading about people, especially when those stories are honest and show them windows into humanity that they can relate to. But they have to be about the right people, at the right time—and I felt those factors aligned last year with Sek Kathiresan.

I’d been thinking of profiling Sek ever since I saw he was leaving cardiology research to start a company. I knew his reputation as a researcher and found it fascinating that he’d make such a risky choice, leaving his profession to run a startup with such a bold plan. I wanted to find out why, and through that figure out what kind of person he is. I thought the moment was right when I saw that his company was going public.

I didn’t know where that story was going, though. Everything came out through months of interviews. I’m sure other journalists can relate to this but, there are moments in the middle of an interview when you know you’ve got a great story. In this case, those moments happened many, many times. I felt like it was my responsibility to turn what I was hearing into something deep and truly compelling to read.

The childhood pictures and the video of Kathiresan accepting the Curt Stern award from the American Society of Human Genetics are powerful. Did it take a lot of effort to acquire those?

For profiles to be as powerful as they can be, the subject has to be gracious with his or her time and willing to be vulnerable and honest. It’s a lot to ask of someone. You have to earn their trust and respect. Part of that is getting to the point that you’re asking someone for personal photos, which are, of course, a delicate subject. With Sek, I knew the types of photos I was looking for. After we’d developed a rapport I explained why I thought they’d be helpful and how they’d elevate the story—while being very clear that anything that makes him uncomfortable is off limits. Sek, to his credit, took those ideas to heart and immediately shared very candid shots. I was pleasantly surprised. The video I found through my own research.

On a bigger scale, can you talk about how you’re allowed the time to work on stories like that? Does that define Industry Dive’s commitment to editorial?

There are always trade-offs when someone has to cycle off of daily coverage to do something bigger. In our case, because we have a small team, it means others have to pick up the slack quite a bit. But we all know that and aspire to write great stories. So when someone has an idea in the works, we come up with a plan to give them the time they need to execute efficiently. And I think that goes for other publications at Industry Dive, not just BioPharma. Many journalists I’ve spoken with here want to write standout stories, not just daily churn.

Last one. This article isn’t what people think of when we say B2B. It’s emotional, heart-tugging (excuse the pun) and works on many levels. Is it encouraged there? Do you get more latitude as a senior editor? Must be good for writers to see they can work on stories like that.

I would say that journalists here, from entry level writers on up, have the freedom to follow their instincts. As writers for a B2B publication, we have to have business angles in our stories. But business stories can be elevated to have so much more to them, and we are absolutely encouraged to get to those heights. As I reported this out and saw the story getting bigger, my colleagues pushed me to keep going and make it as great as it could be. We hired a photographer. Got the design team involved. It turned into a significant effort. As a senior editor, I may have gotten more instant trust in the idea, but this story could’ve been pursued by anyone who went after it.

You can follow Fidler on Twitter at @BentheFidler.

See the first article on the 2022 Neal Award winners—about Endeavor Business Media’s FleetOwner—here. We will also have an Editorial Council meeting on Aug. 4 with two other Neal Award-winning authors. Stay tuned for details.