What does this mean for the channel?

Australian Reseller News, Computer Reseller News, New Zealand Reseller News and The Channel serve readers working at the sharp end of the information technology industry.

While many of the stories they cover are similar to those dealt with by other technology media, their specialised audience means the journalists need to filter information through a channel-oriented lens. In most cases this means asking “what does this mean for the channel” and sticking the answer at the top of the story.

Because people who sell or distribute technology read these titles, they are often slightly ahead of market trends. That’s because companies need to speak to resellers and distributors before speaking to the public.

When these publications work well, there’s a flinty realism to their approach. They tend to deal with the nuts and bolts of the business and not airey-fairy possibilities.

New Zealand’s The Channel is mainly advertorial – that is companies pay the publisher for stories written about their offerings. And all three other titles often run sign-posted advertising supplements – they also pad out local coverage with overseas stories of variable worth. Otherwise the publications are news-oriented.

You need to show the publishers of these titles you are a bone-fide computer industry person to get a subscription to the print publications, but all four run free access web sites.

Australian Reseller News

Computer Reseller News (Australia)

New Zealand Reseller News

The Channel (New Zealand)