Conde Nast | The New York Observer

Life after Conde: Brandon Holley and Ruth Reichl Find Time for Nice Meals

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:44:36 -0400

Devin Leonard has a lovely piece on former Jane editor Brandon Holley. After her magazine folded, she left Conde Nast and started at Yahoo. Her now life is nothing like time at 4 Times Square, but there are ways to make up for it:

Something that she and her New York editors, all print veterans, missed in the new gig was the publishing industry ritual of regularly going out to lunch. Ms. Holley thought she had a...

Patrick McCarthy is Done as Editor of W

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:07:06 -0400

Big news out of Conde Nast: Longtime W editor and editorial director Patrick McCarthy's time as editor is about to come to a close. The magazine's ad pages have been falling at a dramatic rate, more so than other fashion magazines.

Conde's editorial director Tom Wallace will look for the new editor, and Mr. McCarthy will stay on to the end of the year as "Chairman."

Here's the release:

CONDÉ NAST TO MOVE ALL OPERATIONS FOR W...

Digital Media: 'There's Chaos Out There'

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:15:38 -0500

In news that will probably surprise no one, a Columbia Journalism Review survey has found "slack" standards among magazines' web operations. The Times reports:

Copy-editing requirements online were less stringent than those in print at 48 percent of the magazines. And 11 percent did not copy-edit online-only articles at all.

A similar trend held with fact-checking. Although 57 percent of the magazines fact-check online submissions in the same way they fact-check print articles, 27 percent used...

Conde Staffers Name Names, Keith Kelly Won't

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:31:24 -0500

It looks like Conde Nast's anti-fraud tip line is paying off, reports the Post's Keith Kelly. Since the program was implemented earlier this month, the company has busted several staffers:

According to inside buzz, one Wired staffer was let go after taking stuff from the magazine's pop-up store, which was set up in the Meatpacking District in December.

Meanwhile, an ad-side employee has been under investigation for several weeks for allegedly taking (and having subordinates take)...

Conde Goes Bridezilla

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:31:47 -0500

Conde Nast's sole remaining bridal magazine is going head-to-head with web rival The Knot, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Conde closed Modern Bride and Elegant Bride in favor of regular-type Brides last fall, but it's not out of the game! It's "doubling Brides' frequency, making it a monthly, and is introducing more digital services."

The Knot acnowledges Conde's power, but remains confident:

Condé Nast "is the 800-pound gorilla. We may reach more brides, but they certainly make...

Old Media, Renamed

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:11:19 -0500

“Condé Nast is officially dropping the ‘Publications’ from its name.

“Workers have removed the word from the wall on the 11th floor of 4 Times Square, where Chairman S.I. Newhouse Jr., CEO Charles Townsend and other executives sit.”

--New York Post, Feb 5, 2010

“For the first time in the network’s 29-year history, MTV has decided to...

Si Newhouse Engulfed By Dancers Playing Lady Gaga

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:25:27 -0500

Fashion Week! A time for luxury, taste, exclusivity and brightly colored sweatshirts—according to Glamour, at least. Writes Women's Wear Daily:

The fashion title had 100 people from Broadway Dance do a routine, clad in brightly colored Glamour sweatshirts, right next to the Tents at Bryant Park as part of the second phase of its “Live for Glamour” branding campaign. The dancers then moved to the Condé Nast cafeteria at 4 Times Square, followed by Bloomingdale’s...

Job Shuffle at Condé: Lucky Gets a New Publisher

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:36:49 -0500

Michelle Myers will be taking over as the vice president and publisher of Lucky, reports Women's Wear Daily.

WWD writes that Myers "has her work cut out for her at Lucky, where ad pages were down 26.8 percent, to 1,241 ad pages, in 2009 versus 2008." Myers opts to stay positive, focusing on the magazine's "incredible" first quarter this year (a 17 percent increase in ad pages).

She comes to Lucky from People StyleWatch (one...

Ana Marie Cox to G.Q.

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:15:55 -0500

Wonkette founding editor Ana Marie Cox has signed on to G.Q. as its Washington correspondent, reported Politico earlier today.

Ms. Cox had bounced around a bit since she left Wonkette in early 2006. She wrote a book and became an editor at Time. In 2008, she jumped ship for Radar, which published its last issue in October/November 2008. (Which featured Ms. Cox interviewing John McCain about his favorite television shows.)

In January of last year, she...

Condé Goes on Fraud Watch, Asks Employees to Help

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:47:48 -0500

Keith Kelly "can hardly wait for the latest installment of the CBS crime show, CSI: The Condé Nasties Unit," he writes.

Condé Nast's CFO issued a memo yesterday announcing the formation of an employee-fraud hotline, which will allow staffers to report ethically iffy co-workers.

The Fraud Reporting Hotline will try to stop "release of proprietary information, accounting/audit irregularities, falsification of company records, theft of goods/services/cash," and even "unauthroized discounts/payoffs."

Kelly reports employees were "surprised."

As an intelligence-gathering measure,...

Preparing to Pounce on the iPad

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:52:16 -0500

The day after its unveiling, media companies are figuring out how to take advantage of the iPad. Women's Wear Daily summarizes efforts in the magazine world:

Condé Nast Publications will introduce three titles when the iPad makes its debut in March - Vanity Fair, GQ and Wired. During the past few months, Condé Nast has talked openly about its development work for a digital version of Wired and GQ has already launched an iPhone platform;...

GQ App Does OK

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:50:18 -0500

The $2.99 iPhone app version of GQ's January issue sold over 12,000 times, reports Ad Age--almost twice as many times as the deput app of the December issue.

AdAge calls the figures "encouraging," even if they're still wee in comparison to the print circulation (240,000 newsstand sales; 667,851 subscribers):

Conde today said readers are spending as much time and generally engaging with the app versions of GQ as much as they do with print editions.

Repeat readers...

Gina Sanders Takes Over at Fairchild

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:04:53 -0500

Condé Nast announced today that Gina Sanders will be taking over for Richard Beckman as president and CEO of the Fairchild Fashion Group, which includes Women's Wear Daily, WWD.com, Footwear News, Fairchild Summits and Fairchild Books.

Not only is Sanders a 20-year Condé veteran (most recently at Lucky, Teen Vogue and Gourmet), she's also family—as Daily Intel points out, she's married to a Newhouse...

Times Dirtier Than Bloomberg, Cleaner Than Reuters

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:44:03 -0500

The Times cafeteria may have closed last week following food-poisoning concerns ("We are confident that the issue is behind us," says a spokeswoman), but in the grand scheme of New York media cafeterias, it's not doing too badly.

The New York Times cafeteria scored a 10 in its most recent inspection, notes Daily Finance, placing it somewhere between Condé Nast (7) and Reuters (40).

The Reuters report cited failure to vermin-proof the facility, potential contamination sources,...

Reichl Rehashes, Gourmet Staffers Move On

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:16:20 -0500

Ruth Reichl spoke with Leonard Lopate on WNYC, addressing the fate of print and, of course, the final days of Gourmet. Ms. Reichl, who edited the revered food magazine for 10 years before it folded in October, reiterated the shock she's discussed in previous interviews ("It was a done deal"), as well as the outpouring of sympathy she's received (a lady bought her a sandwich at the airport). This time, the account includes Mr....