SFX Network gets a lightsaber thrust through its heart

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SFX Network gets a lightsaber thrust through its heart.

We got a lot of email from you Nest fans when we linked up with UK print sci-fi magazine giant SFX to become part of the SFX Network. Its aim was indeed worthy - to produce a linked series of science fiction sites, showcasing the best of British SF/F online.

Most of you applauded our participation … although we did get a few emails along the lines of "you gits have sold out to the crass and evil forces of mammon, haven't you."

Unfortunately, the near total collapse of internet advertising revenues have derailed this noble venture, as Future have just announced the shock suspension of four of their consumer web sites.

Future Publishing quickly stated that SFX magazine will continue in print, to ease fans panicking that one of the last professional sci-fi magazines in the UK would get suspended too. A small piece of consolation, we suppose.

This is an extract from the sad e-mail the Nest got sent from the SFX Network:

"SFX network has been suspended until further notice as part of a world-wide rationalization at Future Publishing, designed to improve profitability. It is with great regret that we have to terminate our contract with you and are giving you official notice of thirty days. Please accept our thanks for the great enthusiasm you have shown in the creation of this site."

Thankfully, SFX Network's suspension has little direct impact on SFcrowsnest, as despite their promises and being given complete control of our advertising inventory, they never sold any paying adverts for us.

In fact, given SFX were running 100% filler adverts for their own service on our site, you can argue we got the short end of the stick. Especially since we wasted £1000 on programmers recoding our templates to take their odd Java code banner code (which had spotty support for older browsers without some code hacks). Ho hum. You live and learn.

Anyhow, the post below on their community area was purported to be from a member of staff.

"SFX Network has been suspended. What this means is that, as of Friday, November 16, we were given 30 days notice that the website would be switched off. It will be put into storage until such time as Future decide they can either reuse the format or the content from SFX Network in either a similar or altogether different way.

"Neither myself nor Tom had an idea this would happen, particularly not so short a time after our relaunch, but both understand the reasons behind this decision. Three other websites have also been suspended. Please don't ask me to elaborate further, provide more information than that. At this moment I am unable to do so.

"All I can say is thank you to you all. However much of a curmudgeonly git I might have seemed at times, I genuinely appreciate and take to heart all the support, care and backing the members of the forum and visitors to SFX Network have given us over the years, and especially since we relaunched the site last Autumn, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Bad luck, fellas.

The suspension of the SFX Network seems a very shortsighted move to us by their publisher. But then what do we know, we still appear to be left standing alive among the ruins.

Anyhow, although reported suspended, the SFX site is still being hosted. Hundreds of fans haunt the rather primitive bulletin board, discussing when the lights are going to go out for good.

It's not quite clear if SFX will be keeping the site in mothballs until some later time, downgrading it to an online advert, or junking the site altogether. <ed's note ... Iain's comment below seems to clarify this point>

We tired to elicit some comment about this bad state of affairs from the site's fans and staff on their Forum, but the staff had been asked not to talk about it and the bulletin board users obviously didn't want to chat.

A rather fitting analogy of the state of science fiction in the 21^st century, really.

NOTE: Since the story appeared we received this letter from Iain over at the SFX Network (it contained references to our article above which we have removed for brevity). Our thoughts are shown interwoven in <red>. Since appearing, the article above has now been corrected as detailed below.

As online editor of SFX Network, you will understand my considerable surprise and concern when I learned of your article regarding the suspension of the aforementioned site. Below are some points I feel I should draw your attention to, and would hope you would immediately correct in the spirit of fair reporting.

As has been stated on the SFX Network forum, as indeed you will be aware haven taken part in such discussions, the site has been suspended. There has been no closure, merely a suspension, the details of which were clearly clarified in the post by myself you refer to below. Equally, "many" is a total inaccuracy.

< We've changed the article above to the very much more precise four, and now frequently use the term suspension in the article.>

Four sites were suspended by Future. My colleague's name is Tom. My name is Iain. These details are clearly available on the SFX site, and via the forum. Or if you had bothered to contact us properly for comment.

< Yes, we know your names. Sincere apologies for that, the missing and inserted I's in your names were typos. We should have caught that.>

To date, not one single employee has been laid off from Futurenet as a matter of these website suspensions and the ongoing review, nor has anyone been made redundant. All employees are still in place, and will remain so until the current consultation period has been completed. These are astonishingly tasteless comment, and only compounds the relentless spamming over the site's suspension that you and associates have carried out on the SFX Network forum.

For the record, as you will see from the forum posting you quote from above, the site will continue until the period of time at which suspension is scheduled takes place. The site will continue to provide the latest SF news, features and content until we are told to continue no longer. This is a very mawkish and entirely incorrect comment you have made. The forum - far from being "a few forlorn fans" continues with several hundred postings each day. I note you do not mention here the attempts to draw members to your own board. It should be perfectly clear if you had bothered to read the posting you quote above rather than make presumptions.

<OK, we've replaced the forlorn fans with hundreds of fans, in the text above. We did seriously consider sticking in the complete history of our contact with you and the users of the SFX Network bulletin board. For the benefit of you Nest readers, we dropped by and seeing that there were a number of people plugging their own SF communities, decided to drop some plugs of our own. Some of the SFX Net regulars got pissed off by this. Sadly, we lost our rag by our perception of a double standard that while some people - presumably regulars - were allowed to promote their SF communities, we clearly weren't, so we started a flame war. Flame wars never help anybody, and in retrospect we should have just kept a cool head and walked away. Very sorry for that. We're human, and we lose our tempers.>

This is entirely incorrect, as well you are aware. You posted a message in response to one of my forum postings asking if you could quote that in an editorial, wherein I clarified the current situation for SFX Network forum users. I declined, referring you, as is standard practice at any company, to my immediate superior or to the press office, whom are authorised to speak on this matter. You declined to do so. If you feel this was a case of being passed on to some "PR Gonk" then I am curious as to the usual working practises you encounter during your day to day journalist role, as this is no more or less than you would expect at any company.

I'd also draw your attention to the relentless spamming of the SFX Network forum you indulged in to draw visitors to your own bulletin boards, and your abusive and offensive comments to many forum members who were unhappy with you doing so.

<Yep, as we said above, we apologise for the flame war. A hot head and journalism should never mix.>

I should also point out that, by your own admission, no attempt to solicit fair or accurate comment from SFX Network staff or Future was made beyond attempting to lift a forum posting, something contrary to the spirit of fair reporting.

<Yes, we clearly stated in our piece that we didn't want to contact anyone at Future for an official statement. Whenever we've done this in the past, we just tend to get a dry corporate statement from someone whose connection with the SF genre is that their kids might watch Buffy, maybe. We tend to avoid this kind of contact. We find it painful. Is this bad journalism? You could certainly argue that in this case, it led to a less precise article.>

I look forward to your response and corrected article appearing as soon as possible.
Iain Hepburn
Online Editor SFX Network

<OK, Iain, here's the gospel. When we wrote this article we were in state of high nark that we had put a fair bit of effort into promoting the SFX network, and the sarcastic tone we used in this article was partly coming from the fact that effort - as it transpired - had been for nothing. We were further annoyed by the level of hostility exhibited towards us - rightly or wrongly - in the SFX Network bulletin board. You were right to call us on it. Emotion and news make poor bed-fellows.

We have now printed your response, edited the article, and will draw attention to this in next email update.

On a personal note, and for the record, we hold no personal animosity towards you or the SFX crew, online or off. SFX is an excellent read, and your entertaining web site reflected that too. It's a shame that the economics of the Web haven't panned out in way that can support online media. We have no doubt your print mag will continue to thrive.

And to speak bluntly - and no doubt very off-message as far as the suits at CMG are concerned - the Nest will probably be going the same way as SFX Network in the very near future, now that our money has dried up too.

Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish. I do believe I had that e-commerce revenue stream in the back of my cab, once.>

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