One more time: Ziff-Davis is not ZDNet, and vice versa

I’ve heard from a few friends who were concerned after they read this story by The VAR Guy:

Ziff Davis Enterprise, Channel Insider, eWeek Sold: Now What?

The short version is this: a spinoff from the 20th Century Ziff-Davis publishing empire was sold, and the acquiring company plans to lay off 80-90% of the staff. The company being sold is Ziff Davis Enterprise, which publishes eWeek, Baseline Magazine, CIO Insight Magazine and Channel Insider.

Here’s the part to pay close attention to:

Today’s news has nothing to do with Ziff Davis (a completely separate company) and ZDNet (the popular blog destination, also a separate business).

I write for ZDNet, which is a member of the CNET family of companies, which in turn is owned by CBS.

The ZD in ZDNet derives from its heritage with the old publishing company, but the two companies’ paths diverged a long, long time ago.

The VAR Guy post has a good recap of how the various “companies whose names begin with Z” have evolved through the years. You can also read my brief history, from 2006:

Ziff Davis is not ZDNet (and vice versa)

Anyway, best of luck and good wishes to my fellow writers/reporters who are getting pink slips.