It's only rock'n'roll
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《英国医生杂志》
The BMJ Publishing Group has a new chairman—and Michael Chamberlain has come a long way since his days in the music industry
We can be fairly certain of one thing about Michael Chamberlain, newly appointed chairman of the BMJ Publishing Group. Had he been offered the job at an earlier stage of his career, the world of clinical trial findings and systematic reviews would have struck him as a mite tame.
One thing that won't change is the editorial independence of the journal
Now aged 56, Chamberlain was born in Liverpool and left school at 16 to become, in turn, a journalist, a publisher, and a management consultant. But that first job—working for the legendary Brian Epstein—saw him writing a column for Music Echo. "For two years I had a wonderful life. I used to do Top of the Pops on a Wednesday in Manchester, Ready, Steady, Go in London on a Friday, and Thank Your Lucky Stars in Birmingham on a Sunday." Can anything hope to compete with this, I wonder? Medicine may have much to offer—but it's hardly rock 'n' roll.
Credit: KEVIN FEBRUARY
To the readers of a journal—even, sometimes, to its staff—the chairman of a publishing company is a shadowy figure. But his role can be just as pivotal as that of the editor; he can boost its fortunes or wreck them. So how does Chamberlain see the future of his new charge? And, musical experience aside, what will he bring to the publishing group?
Suggest to Chamberlain that the future of learned journals is uncertain, and he'll agree with you. But this is not a lack of certainty in any negative sense; rather it's to do with the range of possibilities confronting publishers. Traditional print on paper, electronic dissemination, open access, subscription only, pay per view—these and other possibilities in various combinations are transforming the theory and practice of journal publishing.
Crowding round in theatre may not be the best way of picking up information
There's room for all of them, Chamberlain believes. The uncertainly lies in which publications will end up in which form or forms. Some publishers are expecting to see a rapid growth in revenue from their electronic enterprises. Chamberlain is confident that the BMJ group will be part of this development. One thing that won't change, he insists, is the editorial independence of the journal.
At this early stage many of his ideas are still essentially broad brush. But he sees new opportunities—in education, for example. "It's clear the European Union is going to bring in compulsory education for healthcare professionals," he says. "Companies like ours can play a role in that market. There are ways of improving the education of doctors. Crowding round in operating theatres is one way of picking up information, but it may not be the best. Having digitised videos of every operation may be effective." Chamberlain can also envisage the group doing more for a lay readership.
His new job is really the culmination of a drift towards things medical that started 10 years ago when he wrote a paper on harnessing the media more effectively for health promotion. Among other things, this led to membership of the editorial board of the Journal of Health Communication, for which he's a peer reviewer. "I also have a daughter who has read medicine. In fact she's just graduated from the Royal Free and started her first house job."
Chamberlain is clear about what he hopes to get from the chairmanship. "What I'm good at, I think, is building things."
He's been doing this all his life—but most recently for large corporations in which the impact of one individual is hard to detect.
"What I bring to this party is 10 years' experience of new technology," he says. In fact that's only part of it. Having abandoned the teenage excitements of Music Echo, he moved on to the Bolton Evening News, the Sun (long before it was owned by Murdoch), and the Express. Deciding he needed some more education, he combined work as a night subeditor on the Express with nine months of study for four A levels. In 1972, after completing an economics degree at Manchester University, he went first to the new radio division of Beaverbrook Newspapers, then to the television company ITN as a specialist on industrial and economic affairs.
He left to edit the advertising weekly Campaign and went on to edit and publish his own rival, Marketing Week. The company grew and diversified. "We started with 36 staff. Eleven years later we had 500." In 1989, as its managing director, he sold his share of the company and went to the United States.
What I bring to this party is 10 years' experience of new technology
Intent on finding out what new technology might mean for publishing, Chamberlain signed up to do a PhD at Florida State University. His intention was not to become an academic but—playing a long game—to acquire insights that would provide a way of entering the newer forms of the media. He returned to Britain in 1994 as director of new media for what is now United Business Publications. By way of the third phase of his career—management consultancy, advising a string of big publishing organisations—he arrived where he is now.
Chamberlain's chairmanship is just two days a week, so there'll be time for other activities. A couple of executive directorships, he says. But what a waste. Experienced columnist... the enduring popularity of '60s sounds... New Musical Express, are you listening?(Geoff Watts)
We can be fairly certain of one thing about Michael Chamberlain, newly appointed chairman of the BMJ Publishing Group. Had he been offered the job at an earlier stage of his career, the world of clinical trial findings and systematic reviews would have struck him as a mite tame.
One thing that won't change is the editorial independence of the journal
Now aged 56, Chamberlain was born in Liverpool and left school at 16 to become, in turn, a journalist, a publisher, and a management consultant. But that first job—working for the legendary Brian Epstein—saw him writing a column for Music Echo. "For two years I had a wonderful life. I used to do Top of the Pops on a Wednesday in Manchester, Ready, Steady, Go in London on a Friday, and Thank Your Lucky Stars in Birmingham on a Sunday." Can anything hope to compete with this, I wonder? Medicine may have much to offer—but it's hardly rock 'n' roll.
Credit: KEVIN FEBRUARY
To the readers of a journal—even, sometimes, to its staff—the chairman of a publishing company is a shadowy figure. But his role can be just as pivotal as that of the editor; he can boost its fortunes or wreck them. So how does Chamberlain see the future of his new charge? And, musical experience aside, what will he bring to the publishing group?
Suggest to Chamberlain that the future of learned journals is uncertain, and he'll agree with you. But this is not a lack of certainty in any negative sense; rather it's to do with the range of possibilities confronting publishers. Traditional print on paper, electronic dissemination, open access, subscription only, pay per view—these and other possibilities in various combinations are transforming the theory and practice of journal publishing.
Crowding round in theatre may not be the best way of picking up information
There's room for all of them, Chamberlain believes. The uncertainly lies in which publications will end up in which form or forms. Some publishers are expecting to see a rapid growth in revenue from their electronic enterprises. Chamberlain is confident that the BMJ group will be part of this development. One thing that won't change, he insists, is the editorial independence of the journal.
At this early stage many of his ideas are still essentially broad brush. But he sees new opportunities—in education, for example. "It's clear the European Union is going to bring in compulsory education for healthcare professionals," he says. "Companies like ours can play a role in that market. There are ways of improving the education of doctors. Crowding round in operating theatres is one way of picking up information, but it may not be the best. Having digitised videos of every operation may be effective." Chamberlain can also envisage the group doing more for a lay readership.
His new job is really the culmination of a drift towards things medical that started 10 years ago when he wrote a paper on harnessing the media more effectively for health promotion. Among other things, this led to membership of the editorial board of the Journal of Health Communication, for which he's a peer reviewer. "I also have a daughter who has read medicine. In fact she's just graduated from the Royal Free and started her first house job."
Chamberlain is clear about what he hopes to get from the chairmanship. "What I'm good at, I think, is building things."
He's been doing this all his life—but most recently for large corporations in which the impact of one individual is hard to detect.
"What I bring to this party is 10 years' experience of new technology," he says. In fact that's only part of it. Having abandoned the teenage excitements of Music Echo, he moved on to the Bolton Evening News, the Sun (long before it was owned by Murdoch), and the Express. Deciding he needed some more education, he combined work as a night subeditor on the Express with nine months of study for four A levels. In 1972, after completing an economics degree at Manchester University, he went first to the new radio division of Beaverbrook Newspapers, then to the television company ITN as a specialist on industrial and economic affairs.
He left to edit the advertising weekly Campaign and went on to edit and publish his own rival, Marketing Week. The company grew and diversified. "We started with 36 staff. Eleven years later we had 500." In 1989, as its managing director, he sold his share of the company and went to the United States.
What I bring to this party is 10 years' experience of new technology
Intent on finding out what new technology might mean for publishing, Chamberlain signed up to do a PhD at Florida State University. His intention was not to become an academic but—playing a long game—to acquire insights that would provide a way of entering the newer forms of the media. He returned to Britain in 1994 as director of new media for what is now United Business Publications. By way of the third phase of his career—management consultancy, advising a string of big publishing organisations—he arrived where he is now.
Chamberlain's chairmanship is just two days a week, so there'll be time for other activities. A couple of executive directorships, he says. But what a waste. Experienced columnist... the enduring popularity of '60s sounds... New Musical Express, are you listening?(Geoff Watts)