The Wall Street Journal's new managing editor is bad news for the tech industry's corporate communications control freaks. Marcus Brauchli, who takes over from Paul Steiger at the helm of the powerful business newspaper, is a noted opponent of the media embargoes that Silicon Valley companies love so much. Companies such as Apple and Google give sneak peeks of new products, and initiatives, to the elite business press — but only on condition they hold off until the day of the announcement. That's how all those seemingly prescient articles — "X will today announce" — come to be. Anyway, the younger generation of newspaper managers, Brauchli among them, are tired of these cosy arrangements; and tired of being scooped if news leaks out to the web before the embargo is lifted. Where the Journal leads, others will follow. So, flacks, expect a change in the rules of the game.

Contact information for this author is not available.