Business Today or LMD?

There’s a debate in the market about the better business magazine: is it the Lanka Monthly Digest (LMD) or the Business Today (BT)?

A good business magazine is something that provides me with information that helps me make better business decisions. It should keep me in-the-know, provide me with insights and tricks of the trade. It should be something that‘s worth investing in the subscription, and it should be something collectible and filled with stuff I’d like to remember. Hopefully, it should arm me with the knowledge that sets me apart from the rest, apart from my peers.

I took two copies of either magazine, flipped through and kept them back. A day later, I still remembered what was in BT, while LMD had nothing memorable inside. Perhaps its the way the articles are presented (layout) in BT or the content itself. Perhaps the “template” look of LMD makes every page, every issue look monotonous that nothing stands out.

Then, comes the most important question: Content. Business Today has got it right in the mix. Not perfect, but good enough. LMD’s biggest sin – it presents articles that are suitable for newspapers, not magazines. I could keep a BT for 10 years and still learn from the articles; while LMD carries news that’s too old by the time the magazine hits the newsstand.

I have also heard the argument about foreign contributors to BT while LMD has a pool of local contributors. In my opinion, the two styles are a world apart, and they are a world apart in value and content too. I’m blessed to have international business wisdom at my hand for half the price; and I have very rarely seen an original write-up from a local contributor that’s on par with the world. Our writers lack substance, there’s no meat and there’s no meaning. No disrespect to anyone intended, but that’s my humble opinion.

The key difference: LMD is business news and BT is business knowledge.

News gets old, knowledge doesn’t.