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Media
Gilded ink
At the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, conspicuous consumption is a highly profitable commodity.
By David Carr
[09/10/99]

Media
Great balls of fire
The press got a little burned at Waco as well.
By Sean Elder
[09/09/99]

Media
The CBS-Viacom merger
Putting the sin back in television synergy.
By Sean Elder
[09/08/99]

Alt
Tree girl has spawned!
Young, PR-savvy idealists defend forests, Republicanism and dog food. Plus: Graphic sex writing is soooo 1995; Leonard Nimoy speaks Yiddish?
By Jenn Shreve
[09/03/99]

Media
List this
See how U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of colleges stacks up against other media listings.
By Jake Tapper
[09/03/99]

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First there were blind rumors of unnamed investors contacting Hachette in a buying frenzy. Then came stories of the publisher's search for a "name" editor to carry the mantle. George Stephanopolous and Christopher Buckley were mentioned (though, according to them, not actually called) and some suspected Hachette of trying to truss up a turkey or at least cadge a little free P.R. With more than 200 titles in 34 countries, Hachette is, after all, the world's largest publisher of consumer magazines. It didn't get that size by giving away the store.

Then early this month Hachette CEO Jack Kliger confirmed he was talking with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, John's famously reclusive sister, regarding the fate of her brother's magazine. The terms would have to be renegotiated; the old deal was a 50-50 split between Hachette and Kennedy. Press reports say Hachette wants majority ownership in order to take a further financial risk; George needs an estimated $15 million a year for several years before it is profitable. The proposed deal would give the company rights to the magazine's content and name, as well as Kennedy's. Some say John's sister sees George as his most visible legacy and is willing to kick in a share of her considerable wealth to keep it alive.

But will George prove any more popular without its fallen leader? The magazine's candy-and-carbohydrates combo may seem just as unpalatable without the charismatic JFK there to front for it. The September issue is a case in point. Between such substantial fare as Melanie Thernstrom's story of a college professor wrongfully accused of rape and a beyond-boilerplate interview with Janet Reno are features on Rob Lowe and Mary J. Blige. (He describes a chance encounter with Tipper Gore; she advocates prayer in schools.) All that cultural careening gives me whiplash.

The October issue, due out next week, is being billed as a tribute issue, though it also features copy actually assigned and read by Kennedy. Acting editor (and former, and possibly future, executive editor) Richard Blow oversaw its production even as Hachette dangled the sword of Damocles over his head. A combination of Hachette pressure and Kennedy-family omertà is keeping the demoralized staff from talking to reporters, but there was reportedly some grumbling over October's $4.95 price (two bucks more than before). The tribute issue will not feature Kennedy on the cover, or so the magazine's publicist says. The issue has been embargoed until late next week, though some publications will see it before others. (Salon is seemingly among the poor relations.)

All this secrecy can best be explained by a continued desire for buzz; George hasn't had so much ink since Cindy Crawford dressed up as George Washington for issue No. 1, and that kind of press can be addictive. But it's hard to imagine what Hachette could do to make that dog fly; circulation is hanging in the precipitous 600,000 range and the stampede of interested readers might merely be the throng that follows any famous funeral.

Sister Act: Aside from the October issue of George, the last gasp of Kennedy mania can be found in monthly magazines now -- magazines that couldn't get stories turned around in time for September. September coverage fell along fashion lines, with an unsurprising homage in this month's 700-page, blunt-instrument Vogue and two (count 'em) Kennedy tributes in Vanity Fair, which put the babe-a-licious Bessette Kennedy on its cover. (This was, perhaps, to make up for James Wollcott's too-late-to-take-it-back dig at JFK Jr. in his August column on Steven Brill; "trying to get good quotes from him," wrote Wollcott of George's editor, "is like checking a burro for gold teeth.")

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