Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:41:52 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Myrna Blyth :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Myrna+Blyth istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/business/young-women-swoon-as-jane-says-goodbye/58102/ Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST It's goodbye to Jane, the magazine for 20-somethings created a decade ago by editor Jane Pratt. The magazine had been struggling for several years with declining advertising pages, and Ms. Pratt herself left the publication in 2005. Although the chief executive officer of Condé Nast, Charles Townsend, told the industry publication Advertising Age last September that he was committed to supporting Jane, the August issue will be the magazine's last. "This was a very difficult decision for us," Mr... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/business/cond-nast-launches-new-business-magazine/52629/ Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST Condé Nast's much-hyped new business magazine, Portfolio, hits newsstands this week. A megamillion dollar investment by the publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair, the magazine aims "to chronicle how business shapes the world — and who the players are that wield the power." The editor in chief, Joanne Lipman, in her editor's letter declares, "Business should be about power. And guts. And passion. Business coverage should be, too." Condé Nast has demonstrated both "guts" and "passion" in launching... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/shifting-strategies/47204/ Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST A fire alarm went off as Cathleen Black, president of Hearst Magazines, began speaking to a group of magazine executives at the University Club recently. Delivering her first "state of the state of publishing" address in five years. Ms. Black, a smooth and effective speaker, kept right on with her prepared words, pausing only when a voice on a loudspeaker finally declared, "There is no emergency." But Ms. Black's subject, if not quite an emergency, was the many serious challenges that now face... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/money-magazines-get-smart/45118/ Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST "Business is a glorious subject," the editor of the new business magazine the American, James K. Glassman, said. Launched recently by the American Enterprise Institute, the magazine is called the American, Mr. Glassman explained, so no one would think it is merely "a house organ" for AEI, the Washington-based conservative think tank. "Besides, we were really surprised to find out when we were searching for a name that in America there was no magazine called the American." Mr. Glassman's opinion... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/fast-meals-lead-to-ad-sales/43517/ Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST While the circulation and advertising for most magazines are as flat as a collapsed souffle, magazines about food are doing surprisingly well. Leading the pack is Every Day with Rachael Ray, which recently celebrated its first anniversary. The magazine, published by Reader's Digest Association, has in these 12 months reached a circulation of nearly 1 million and is planning two hefty circulation rate hikes in the year ahead. "We will be at a circulation of 1.7 million by next August," president... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/magazine-industry-ponders-its-future/42052/ Mon, 23 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST "What kind of business are we in?" is the rather plaintive title of a panel at this year's American Magazine Conference, which began Sunday in Phoenix. And that is exactly the question that magazine executives are asking themselves these days. Publishers of even the best-known and most successful American magazines are finding both the present and the future challenging and confusing. They know they have to be part of the digital revolution, but they are still not quite certain how to do this... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/eco-mags-go-high-gloss/40693/ Mon, 2 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST It's getting easier to be green — at least in the publishing world now that interest in protecting the environment is hot. Both Vanity Fair and Elle devoted their May issues to the subject, and Al Gore's tome about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," has become a surprising bestseller. "Interest has reached a tipping point in the last couple of years,"director of marketing for the Vermont publishing company Chelsea Green, Beau Friedlander, said. "It isn't on the fringe anymore. Nowadays... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/what-do-women-want-gloria-steinem-knows/39777/ Fri, 15 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST Rosie O'Donnell is really into girl talk these days, and not only as co-host of "The View." Ms. O'Donnell, along with Jane Fonda, Billie Jean King, Gloria Steinem, and "Friends" creator Marta Kauffman, are backers of a new talk radio network by women and for women. Called GreenStone Radio and with $3.1 million in venture capital funding, the network was launched this week at a party at Manhattan's Museum of Radio and Television. Ms. Fonda cited research that has shown that women are not... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/rosie-to-the-rescue-or-is-it-the-demise/39045/ Tue, 5 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST It's Rosie to the rescue! Yes, Rosie O'Donnell takes over as the moderator on ABC's "The View" today, with a mission to knit together the fabric of this fraying daytime show. Now entering its 10th season, "The View" has experienced a considerable amount of wear and tear in the last few months. Meredith Vieira, who was the program's skillful moderator since its inception, departed in early June to take over Katie Couric's vacated slot on NBC's "Today Show." (She debuts on the morning show next... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/who-let-the-girl-into-the-boys-club/38959/ Fri, 1 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST There is no doubt CBS should get a bang for its buck when Katie Couric takes over as the first solo woman anchor in the history of network nightly news. Ms. Couric, who is reportedly earning a whopping $15 million a year, will also run down the day's stories on the Web, participate in a Web blog, record a one-minute "Katie Couric Reports" for radio, Internet, and wireless users, and anchor CBS's 5 p.m. radio newscast. She also will be a correspondent on Sunday's "Sixty Minutes." Yes, it will be... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/editor-puts-her-stamp-on-marie-claire/38373/ Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST The new editor in chief of Marie Claire, Joanna Coles, shares more than just her British heritage with noted editor Tina Brown. Like Ms. Brown, Ms. Coles also has a talent for creating buzz. And then, of course, there's that cropped blonde haircut. "I was away on vacation and only found out on the day I got back that I had an interview with Cathie Black," Ms. Coles recalled. Ms. Black is the president of Hearst Magazines, which, with Marie Claire Album of Paris, owns Marie Claire. "So I rushed... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/fashion-magazines-bulk-up-for-september/37856/ Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST The September issues of fashion magazines hit newsstands this week, thick with ads and advice on what to wear — and buy. Fashion advertising is vigorous in magazines this year. Leading the pack is Vogue with Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette on the cover. Vogue, the perennial heavyweight champion, boasts a hefty 625 advertisement pages, which is not the magazine's best, but good enough to keep it the industry leader. Two other magazines that have boosted ad sales are Hachette Filipacchi's Elle... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/boomer-time/37277/ Thu, 3 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST "Let's live to be 100 — or die trying," the ebullient 45-year-old founder of Eons.com, Jeff Taylor, said. Eons.com, a Web site devoted to baby boomers, launched this week with considerable hoopla. This $10 million venture intends to build a sense of community among — and market to — the 50-plus set. Magazines have only partially succeeded with that goal. So will baby boomers flock to a Web site, in the same way teenagers have made instant fads out of MySpace.com or YouTube.com? Given the... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/celebrity-titles-crowd-womens-magazines/36707/ Wed, 26 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST While some well-established women's magazines struggle to retain their circulation, the celebrity weeklies, now selling more than 7 million copies a week, are almost as vibrant as Angelina Jolie's smile. This newly crowded magazine category includes People (the mother of them all), US Weekly, In Touch, Star, Life & Style Weekly, and the British import OK! These magazines, with cover stories about Jennifer Aniston's newest romance ("Is Vince the One?" People asked last week), sell most of... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/capturing-30-something/21561/ Mon, 17 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST The women's magazine that most major publishing companies wish they could start is a big magazine for women in their 30s. But not another celebrity magazine like the ones they are now reading: The median age for readers of Us, the celebazine whose circulation is still skyrocketing, is 31. And not yet another shopping magazine: Shopping magazines such as Lucky, Shop Etc., and Domino in the past few years have also captured the interest of women in this age group. Rather, publishers are seeking... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/men-try-to-get-in-vogue/19643/ Wed, 7 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EST Men's Vogue was launched across the country on Tuesday, a very sophisticated younger brother of Conde Nast's hugely profitable Vogue. The magazine, which costs $4.95 for newsstand buyers, will be sent free to 200,000 readers gleaned from Conde Nast's database, as well as select customers from some high-end men's stores. The demographic being sought are men over 35 with incomes of more than $100,000. These men are presumably ignored by such magazines as the service-oriented Men's Health or... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/do-you-know-me/19056/ Wed, 24 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST With Jane Pratt about to leave the magazine she named after herself, Tina Brown off writing a book about Princess Diana, and Bonnie Fuller struggling to keep the Star competitive, it looks like the age of the "star editor" is finally over. Today's newly successful magazines rely far more on a format or formula than the creative vision or buzz factor of a highly publicized, highly paid editor in chief. For example, during the past six months circulation for In Touch, published by Bauer... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/what-youll-be-reading-in-100-years/18732/ Wed, 17 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST The Magazine Publishers of America, the trade association of the industry, was once known for golf outings and glad-handing, especially at the American Magazine Conference, its yearly get-together. Lately, however, the MPA has focused on making magazines seem cool. This year's American Magazine Conference, to be held in Puerto Rico in October, will feature some of the industry's more controversial superstars, including Martha Stewart herself. Stewart and Susan Lyne, now CEO of Martha Stewart... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/new-name-at-jane/18350/ Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST Can a magazine named Jane succeed with an editor named Brandon? We'll soon find out - Brandon Holley, currently editor of Hachette Filipacchi's ELLEgirl, has just been appointed editor in chief of Fairchild's Jane magazine. Jane, of course, was the brainchild of Jane Pratt, now 42, who founded the magazine eight years ago. She had also been, at just 24, the founder of Sassy, an offbeat, irreverent magazine for teenage girls. Ms. Pratt announced a couple of weeks ago that she would step down... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/two-new-weeklies-hit-the-stands/17980/ Wed, 3 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST Two big magazine launches this week could roil the waters in some major magazine categories. On Thursday British publisher Richard Desmond will try to extend his publishing empire with a launch of an American version of the celebrity weekly OK! And on Tuesday, Hearst, publisher of Good Housekeeping and Redbook, launched its first women's weekly, called Quick & Simple. Launching a weekly is a major investment for a publishing company. Hearst has not disclosed what it plans to spend on Quick... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/secrets-of-the-beauty-industry-exposed/17656/ Wed, 27 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EST Women's magazines, and those who run them, take themselves very seriously. And, as Nadine Haobsh has discovered, can sometimes have absolutely no sense of humor. Last week, Ms. Haobsh was an obscure associate beauty editor at Ladies' Home Journal, a magazine I once edited, pleased with the opportunity to write the monthly makeover page. The pert 24-year-old Barnard graduate had just accepted a job offer to be beauty editor at Seventeen. But she had also been producing, for the last few months... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/future-of-readers-digest/17310/ Wed, 20 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EST Reader's Digest will celebrate its 1,000th issue this week with a party that its public relations agency promises will be "star-studded, futuristic and interactive." That's because the 1,000th issue, on sale July 26, is not looking back at the magazine's impressive 83-year history but is looking ahead. Its cover story predicts "14 Trends That Will Change Your Life." The trends will be brought to life in displays at the party. What are they? Many concern technology - from new life-saving medical... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/presss-obsession-with-itself/16914/ Wed, 13 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EST Remember when newsmagazines simply reported news and were not themselves the subject of news reports? In the last couple months, both of the biggest have made headlines. News stories focused on Newsweek's mistaken report that interrogators flushed a Koran down a toilet in Guantanamo. After a furor, the magazine first retracted the story, then apologized. Then last week Time magazine's editor in chief, Norman Pearlstine, made headlines when he agreed to turn over reporter Matthew Cooper's... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/who-makes-the-deals-in-the-magazine-world/16552/ Wed, 6 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EST Although advertising for magazines may be soft and newsstand circulation challenging right now, one aspect of the magazine business is booming. More and more publishing companies and individual titles are being bought and sold, especially those devoted to special interests as well as business-to-business magazines. Last week's sale of Inc. and Fast Company by the German publishing company Gruner + Jahr to Joseph Mansueto, the billionaire CEO of the financial research firm Morningstar, was just... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/your-company-name-here/16279/ Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EST Viacom Incorporated's co-president, Leslie Moonves, who runs CBS, has declared that product placement "is becoming more and more relevant to every television show." Expect a "quantum leap" in placement in the upcoming fall season, he said. Magazine executives are watching this trend closely, especially since the advertising page count for the magazine industry in 2004 dropped to below 1998 levels. The Toyota Motor Corporation recently asked three major magazine publishers to explore the idea of... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/questionable-truth-about-hillary/15879/ Wed, 22 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EST It is the book of the week. Edward Klein's much buzzed-about biography of Hillary Clinton was published on Tuesday. Currently bounding up best-seller lists - it was no. 4 on Amazon the last time I looked - the book had a first printing of 350,000 copies. "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go To Become President" (Sentinel, 336 pages, $24.95) has been touted as being so packed with unseemly disclosures that it could derail Senator Clinton's possible bid... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/weekend-reading-for-the-second-home-set/15112/ Wed, 8 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EST The notion of a magazine all about the weekend has been around for several years. A decade ago Metropolitan Home used to produce individual issues all about what to do with your weekend (and your weekend home). Many home magazines have summer issues that discuss weekend homes and casual Saturday night get-togethers. Sally Koslow, former editor of McCall's and Lifetime, even developed a magazine called Friday. In fact, at many magazine brainstorming sessions, publishers often pitch the idea of... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/bookexpos-back/14841/ Fri, 3 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EST BookExpo America - the publishing world's largest annual get-together - is in town this weekend. More than 25,000 book-industry people - publishers, bookstore owners, librarians, retailers, television and movie producers, and authors - are expected to visit the exhibition at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to check out this year's upcoming books, greet old friends, scope out industry trends, collect goody bags of promotional galleys and assorted tchotchkes, and party, party, party. The... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/united-nations-of-magazines/14353/ Wed, 25 May 2005 00:00:00 EST Almost 900 publishers - some from as far away as Cambodia - are in New York to attend the 2005 World Conference of the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP) at the Waldorf Astoria. But the talk of the day was about the purchase - by the most all-American of publishing companies, the Des Moines-based Meredith Corporation - of four magazines owned by the German publishing giant, Gruner + Jahr. Meredith has reached an agreement in principle with Gruner + Jahr to acquire Parents... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/back-on-your-radar/14007/ Wed, 18 May 2005 00:00:00 EST It's ba-a-a-ck! Next week the much buzzed-about, now better-financed new issue of Radar magazine hits the newsstands. Though it's called the "premiere issue" in its official Radar magazine "Fact Sheet," it is, in fact, the third issue of the magazine that Editor Maer Roshan has been trying to start for the past three years. In the spring of 2003, Mr. Roshan scraped together enough money to produce two test issues. The first was compared to Talk, where he had been the editorial director and... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/whats-in-a-name/13673/ Wed, 11 May 2005 00:00:00 EST Do magazines that are tied to celebrities really work? It depends. Once in a while they are smash hits. Think of O, The Oprah Magazine, for example, a partnership between Hearst and Oprah's own company that is a complete winner with constantly increasing circulation, burgeoning advertising, and lavish, award-winning editorial and design. But remember Rosie, Gruner & Jahr's extreme makeover of the long-established women's magazine McCall's. Though Rosie started off strong, it flamed out when... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/we-are-all-paparazzi-now/13307/ Wed, 4 May 2005 00:00:00 EST A picture, they used to say, is worth a thousand words. Now it's more like half a million dollars. That's what Us Magazine is said to have paid last week for some innocuous photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood "couple" of the moment, strolling along a secluded beach in Mombasa. The pictures set off a fierce bidding war between Us and its weekly rivals People, In Touch, and Star. But the market for such photographs is no longer limited to the celebrity weeklies. Magazines such... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/view-from-the-top-2005-04-27/12898/ Wed, 27 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST Gossip columnist Liz Smith says she can't live without it. "It's the media's own little secret publication," she gushes. "So clever, so comprehensive." No, she's not talking about the most in-the-know celebrity-tracking tabloid. Ms. Smith is full of praise for the Week, the offbeat newsweekly that has the magazine world's least modest tagline: "All you need to know about everything that matters." The Week began in Britain, where it has been published for nine years; this month it celebrates its... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/new-can-do-attitude/12561/ Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST Two sisters are making a dream come true for their third sister, a young woman, who died on United Flight 93 on September 11. Her dream was to publish a book. The sisters Vaughn Lohec and Dara Near finished the book their sister, Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, started but never had the chance to complete. Called "You Can Do It!" it will be published on May 3 by Chronicle Books. There are already 275,000 copies in print. Grandcolas was an advertising saleswoman based in San Francisco for Good... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/new-yorker-takes-5-ellies/12260/ Thu, 14 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST Like a jumping jack, the New Yorker's editor in chief, David Remnick, popped out of his front-row seat and onto the stage five times to receive National Magazine Awards at a luncheon yesterday at the Waldorf-Astoria. It is the 40th year for the magazine world's top editorial honor, which is bestowed by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia School of Journalism, and which this year attracted more than 1,500 entries. The New Yorker, which received 10 nominations, more than any... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/cond-nast-lines-up-its-domino/12185/ Wed, 13 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST Condé Nast will launch yet another shopping magazine later this month, following in the footsteps of its own very successful Lucky. Domino, unlike its fashion-mad older sister publication, is about the home. It will try to prove that young women in their early 30s are as passionate about adding another chair to their living room and another set of sheets to their bedroom as they are about buying this season's hot new bags and shoes. In fact, the magazine's very name reflects what the editors... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/arts/who-cares-whats-inside-its-the-cover-that-counts/11786/ Wed, 6 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST Magazine editors stay up at night worrying about who or what to put on a magazine's cover to make it sell at the newsstand. The trouble is nobody knows, and a cover winner can turn into a cover loser within months. Last year Sarah Ferguson, Britain's "Fergie," was the best-selling cover for Prevention magazine in February, but she was the worst-selling cover of the year for Ladies' Home Journal by June. Go figure. When it comes to the celebrity weeklies, love in bloom does just fine. The best... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/is-the-new-new-york-a-success/11408/ Wed, 30 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST It has been a couple of good weeks for New York magazine. The weekly, which has been revamped since being bought in December 2003 by Wall Street deal-maker Bruce Wasserstein, was nominated for three National Magazine Awards. This is the first time since 1986 that New York has received three nominations in the same year, and it ties the magazine's record. Such attention has made New York's new editor in chief Adam Moss cheerful but not very cheerful. "I am constitutionally unable to feel too... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/get-ready-for-the-ellies-its-awards-season/10800/ Fri, 18 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST It was nomination week in Magazineland. The American Society of Magazine Editors on Thursday announced the finalists for this year's National Magazine Awards, which will be handed out at a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria on April 13. Even being named a finalist for an Ellie, as the Awards are called - winners receive an Alexander Calder-designed stabile that looks like an elephant - is considered an honor by most magazines and their editors and publishers. This year there were more than 1,500... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/after-years-of-courting-luxury-hearst-launches/10400/ Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST And yet another new magazine for women! But instead of going upscale as so many magazines have done lately, Hearst plans to launch a decidedly down-market women's title this summer. Called Quick & Simple, it will be a 56-page weekly, sold primarily on newsstands. Yes, it does sounds similar to Time Inc.'s recently launched All You, a women's monthly, which is sold only at Wal-Mart stores. And both are similar to Bauer's Women's World, which has been around for more than 20 years and sells 1... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/frank-mccourt-pens-first-signed-review/10111/ Fri, 4 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST Publisher's Weekly, which is read avidly by publishers, booksellers, authors, and librarians, is doing something completely different. Though it has been reviewing books since 1932 and gives a book one of the very first reviews it receives, the reviews have never been signed. Until this week. For the first time ever, Thomas Fleming's "Mysteries of My Father," published by Wiley, received a review from best-selling author Frank McCourt. And it was a very good one. PW reviews are important... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/invasion-of-the-british-editors-part-ii/9700/ Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST The British are coming! Yes, once again, British editors and reporters are arriving in droves on our shores to show American magazine and weekly staffers how it really should be done. More than a decade after Tina Brown and Anna Wintour added buzz to Conde Nast's Vanity Fair and Vogue, Brits are again taking over our celebrity-infused tabloids as well as the more upscale men and women's magazines. For example, Paul Field, former associate editor of The Sun in London, a paper so cheeky it used... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/inside-tv-erases-the-line-between-editorial/9456/ Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST The line between advertising and editorial in magazines has grown fainter and fainter in the past few years. Some blame the new shopping magazines such as Conde Nast's Lucky and Hearst's Shop, Etc., which plug products as the major part of their editorial content, for the obvious erosion. Others claim pressured publishers are capitulating to advertisers' demands because of the greater cooperation that marketers now receive from movies and TV. One soon-to-be launched publication in which this... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/european-publishers-hachette-g-j-and-bauer-boost/9102/ Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST They're back! Europeans publishers, some of whom made a foray into the American market several years ago, are once again returning to our shores, encouraged by the uptick in magazine advertising and the weak American dollar. Richard Desmond, the British billionaire, announced he will launch an American edition of OK!, yet another weekly celebrity magazine, probably by December. The editor will be Nicola McCarthy, a Brit, who has been working in New York for several months as US Weekly's... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/style/seating-arrangements-the-hierarchy-of-who-sits/8740/ Fri, 4 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST Fashion Week starts today, and it is a time of fierce competition, obsessing about what to wear, and sniping one-upmanship. And I'm not talking about the designers who will be showing or the models who will be taking part in the nearly 70 shows held from February 4 to 11 in billowing white tents at Bryant Park. Rather, it's the editors from dozens and dozens of American and international fashion, beauty, and women's magazines who will be that tense as they fiercely jockey for the best possible... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/new-direction-for-mediabistro/8229/ Wed, 26 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST At Michael's the other day, I had lunch with Laurel Touby, the perky impresario of Mediabistro.com, the Web site that many reporters, editors, and the like click on to daily to check out the latest press happenings as well as scout out job openings, enroll in career-enhancing courses, and find out about the many parties the Web site hosts. Currently the site has 750,000 members. "We're not Google," Ms. Touby said. "And we don't want to be. Look, we don't want teachers in Iowa on the site. But... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/essence-defies-hip-hop-stereotypes/7604/ Wed, 12 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST Last week was a busy one at Essence Communications. Time Warner acquired the remaining 51% of the company, which publishes Essence, the leading magazine for black women. The price tag was estimated at over $100 million. In 2000, Time Inc. bought 49% of the company. Last year Essence and Time together launched Suede, a multicultural beauty and fashion magazine that will publish nine issues this year. Essence made news again by launching a feisty campaign to protest the demeaning image of black... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/mr-magazine-picks-the-best-of-2004/7210/ Wed, 5 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST Samir Husni, a dapper Lebanese-born journalism professor, is known as "Mr. Magazine" because he tracks every new magazine published in America. Mr. Husni, who teaches at the University of Mississippi, is an old friend, and we talked the other day about the avalanche of new magazines that were published in 2004. On average, almost 75 magazines were launched each and every month. In October alone there were 132 new titles. "We have not seen such vitality in years, especially among the big... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/new-beauty-is-anything-but-natural/6880/ Wed, 29 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST Want a new look for the new year? A really, really new look? Then there's a new magazine just for you, New Beauty, a sort of shopping guide to help one find the plastic surgeon of one's dreams. New Beauty hits the newsstand on January 18 - just when some women just might be wishing for liposuction to erase their eggnog-induced weight gain. The magazine will publish a national edition as well as 13 regional editions, highlighting doctors and physical enhancement treatments in markets such as... MYRNA BLYTH http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/publications-influentials-are-reading/6457/ Fri, 17 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST Which magazines do trendsetters read? Mediamark Research Inc., which tracks magazine readership for publishers and advertising agencies, just released a report detailing what percentage of the readership of 230 magazines are made up of those they describe as "influentials." They define "influentials" as people who drive public opinion and influence the consumer behavior of others. Their characteristics were described in a book called "The Influentials" written by two former Roper researchers...