Acquisition Triggers Major Edit Changes at Forbes

An acquisition is triggering a major editorial initiative at Forbes Media. The company has agreed in principle to buy True/Slant, an online news and community network. As a result, True/Slant founder Lewis Dvorkin will take the position of chief product officer with responsibility over all of Forbes's editorial products.

The connections between Forbes and True/Slant, which launched a year ago, are well established. Dvorkin was executive editor of the magazine from 1996 to 2000; Forbes had an investment in his startup; and Dvorkin was hired in April as a consultant.

Terms of the deal were not released.

True/Slant will be brought in-house with the intention of revamping much of Forbes's approach to content. While Forbes president and COO Tim Forbes said in a statement that the "Forbes mission and message will not change," Dvorkin, in his own statement on the deal, has some pretty lofty goals:

"The small True/Slant team, with more than 100 years of Web, publishing and TV experience, will now be working side-by-side with talented and dedicated journalists at Forbes Media. The goal: to work together to further develop a mindset around the power of the Web and traditional news values. With hard work, we can implement new blogging platforms and more efficient digital, print and video content creation models; we can find better ways for audiences to engage with news and information; and we can pursue new integrative approaches for marketers and advertisers."

In more concrete terms, the Forbes announcement says that, under Dvorkin's leadership, Forbes.com will be re-architected and the magazine will be redesigned.

Of the more than 300 contributors that True/Slant relies on for content, some will possibly continue within Forbes. "As True/Slant transitions, some of you may be interested in moving with us to Forbes," says Dvorkin in his statement. "We look forward to discussing the possibilities with you."

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