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Award-winning Producer and Editor Marjorie L. Martin to Head About.com's Health Channel
NEW YORK (April 17, 2006) - Appointment underscores expansion of leading consumer information Web site's health offering.
About.com today announced the appointment of Marjorie L. Martin, an award-winning television producer and health editor to the newly created position of General Manager, About.com Health (http://health.about.com). For the past 6 months, About.com Health has consistently ranked second in the online Health and Fitness category for content sites, according to Nielsen NetRatings. It offers original content on a range of diseases and conditions, from allergies to weight loss, through its unique network of medical professionals and other health experts.
"We are pleased to welcome Marjorie, an accomplished medical journalist and online specialist to About.com," said Scott Meyer, president and CEO of About.com. "This is our latest move to dramatically expand and further differentiate our high quality Health offering. Marjorie will leverage her extensive experience in health media to help us grow our health channel well past its current 4.9 million monthly visitors."
Previously, Ms. Martin was vice president and managing editor at WebMD, where she helped transform the site from a start-up into the leading online health content provider. During her eight years at the company, she led the development of in-depth health content and tools as well as award-winning coverage of important health news and clinical advances. She also led the successful launch of WebMD the Magazine, the first offline publication from WebMD. She started her career in 1985 with CNN in Washington, DC, first covering Capitol Hill for several years then moving to CNN's headquarters in Atlanta to produce in-depth medical programming. There, she wrote and produced documentaries on topics ranging from heart disease to women's health. In 1992, she became executive producer, overseeing all medical news coverage for CNN, which subsequently received an Emmy Award for breaking news coverage in 1996. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science in journalism in 1985.
In her new role, Ms. Martin will lead the growth and strategic direction of About.com Health. She and her team will develop new content tools and features that will extend About.com's already robust Health offering. She will report to Andrew Pancer, chief operating officer, About.com.
One of 22 content channels, About.com Health offers original content on a range of diseases and conditions by way of its unique Guide network of physicians, medical professionals, patient advocates and authors who offer a friendly, pragmatic "voice of reason" on health topics, including women's health, pregnancy, diabetes, senior health, mental health and others.
About.com recently unveiled new About.com Health videos on a range of health topics, including the new food pyramid and the bird flu. The topics are explained by Dr. Mona Khanna, MD, MPH, a quadruple board-certified practicing physician and Emmy award-winning medical correspondent.
In addition, About.com recently received a number of awards from the Health Information Resource Center. About.com's Exercise site (www.exercise.about.com) received a Bronze in the category of Health Promotion/Disease & Injury Prevention Information, while About.com Health received Merit recognition. In the Patient Education Information category, About.com's Women's Health site (www.womenshealth.about.com) received Merit recognition.
About About.com
Founded in 1996, About.com is the leading online source for original consumer
information and advice and was acquired in March 2005 by The New York Times
Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2005 revenues of $3.4 billion,
which includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston
Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, nine network-affiliated television stations,
two New York City radio stations and 35 Web sites, including NYTimes.com,
Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society
by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and
entertainment.
Press Contacts:
For About.com: Lisa Langsdorf, 212-204-1467 llangsdorf@about.com