Katharine Everett
Creators and directors of online news sites have made Internet Magazine’s list of the top 50 ‘movers and shakers’ in the online industry.
Katharine Everett, controller of new media for the BBC, appears as one of only four women on the list.
She is joined by Simon Waldman, director of digital publishing at Guardian Unlimited, Hugo Drayton, managing director of Hollinger Telegraph New Media, and Michael Murphy, chief executive officer of FT.com.
Appearing for the third time, the Emap magazine’s list covers entrepreneurs, techies, venture capitalists and internet service providers.
Following a year of dot.com doom and gloom, only 13 had the staying power to remain in the top 50 list two years running.
Those off the list included Philip Duke, from Carlton Online, and Bob Geldof.
Internet Magazine said that Everett’s bbc.co.uk was one of the most respected and popular sites on the web. It is the ninth most visited in the UK, and this year has seen the launch of Sport Online.
The magazine said that, under Murphy, FT.com had "achieved something that many rival print-based publishers have failed to do – created a site that adds real value to the existing product".
Waldman is responsible for The Guardian’s expanding network of websites which has recently added education and media sections.
The Telegraph, according to Internet Magazine, was the first UK paper to figure out what the net could offer a brand that was still going strong.
It has added new sport and money sections.
Drayton is responsible for Hollinger’s digital and online interests in the UK and Europe, which are a mix of its own branded service and investments such as Handbag.com and Newsplayer.
When asked by Internet Magazine what companies would survive, Drayton predicted: "The big brands will get it right and be the eventual winners."
The magazine surveyed top players in the internet industry and asked them to identify the biggest issue over the next year.
Most (30 per cent) said they believed it was the ability to generate new sources of revenue.
Around 24 per cent said surviving the dot.com backlash and regaining consumer confidence was important, while 18 per cent said take up of broadband to improve the speed of communication should be the main focus of attention.
By Jon Slattery
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