While Neville was away at the at-sea Communication Directors Conference, I proceeded with the “For Immediate Release” podcast with our first-even guest host, Sam Whitmore, who runs Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey and writes the media column for Forbes.com. One of the topics Sam raised was the wall that exists in most business publications between the print and online staffs. The print staff—where advertising revenues currently come from—get the budgets. The online staffs are kept isolated from the print team, often to the detriment of both efforts. But aren’t they one publication with an online and a print presence? Why wouldn’t these staffs work together? The answer, Sam says, is politics.

I got an e-mail from Sam yestserday pointing to a Media Business interview with Steve Adler, the new honcho at Business Week, replacing Stephen B. Shephard. Among the points Adler makes in the interview is his intent to break down the wall between the print and online staffs. “We’re developing story ideas for all channels simultaneously, including TV,” he said in the interview. “We’re organizing around the thought that we’re a 21st-century multichannel organization.”

Great move, and a great way to assert leadership when following on the heels of a legend like Shephard. It remains to be seen if Forbes and Fortune will follow suit.