Cathleen Black starts nip and tuck of web properities, still has no web regrets

Hearst Prexy Cathleen Black who said she has no web regrets, is never the less playing catch up by rolling out a long overdue revamped Esquire.com as part of a bigger plan for an across the board revamp of Hearst's online destinations. However we think the new Esquire.com would have been stronger in the form of a men's portal to rival sites like Askmen.com instead of just a web companion for the print version. Like many magazine publishers and traditional content players across the board, Hearst has ramped up its digital capabilities, particularly since the formation last March of a digital-media unit. This year it is adding mobile sites, starting last month with Seventeen, Cosmopolitan and Cosmo Girl. New Klosterman pieceFor Esquire, the web exclusives will reside in a piece of prime real estate called "The Side," where Chuck Klosterman has already posted a timely piece on Britney Spears' antics this week called "Why Britney? Why?" The section will also include a new song to stream or download most days. It's not a blog, but a place for short items that track real-time events. Hearst Begins to Revamp Its Digital Strategy [AdAge]