GRASS IS GREENER Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia chief Susan Lyne might be looking to move on, with her $4.4 million contract technically expiring yesterday; she stays on with its auto-renew clause. Under her tenure, MSLO shares have seen their $20 valuation halved. Now watch as she goes hunting for a higher-paying gig. [KK]
First Blueprint went after the young lady crowd. Now MSLO is planning a title for the post-menopausal crowd. Or are we being too harsh-slash-ageist? Anyhow, the new pub might go after Town & Country or More. Or, just as likely, chip away at Martha Stewart Living. [WWD]
Poor M. Diddy. We, admittedly, love us some Martha Stewart — mostly because we can watch her and pretend like we care about learning how to cook. The perfectionist, talented house keeper, and media mogul-cum-insider trader finally reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision yesterday.
Stewart will pay a $195,000 fine (pocket change in her case), as well as be banned for five years from "serving as a director of a public company." This includes limiting her role at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia for the next half decade, hanging on to the title of "founder" at MSLO and little else. She responded to this settlement simply and assuredly, saying,
"This brings closure to a personal matter and my personal nightmare has come to an end."
And unless a disastrous flower arrangement shows up on her Connecticut doorstep, the personal nightmares may truly be over this time.
Martha Stewart settles with SEC [Reuters via Mediabistro]
As our regular readers know, we have been waiting for Martha Stewart's new magazine Blueprint to hit stands ever since we heard that MSLO decided to pull a real Budget Living move — instead of buying Don Welsh's mag, Martha just decided to try for the DIY.
Finally, today, the shelter mag for young families is released onto newsstands everywhere. And because we care much more for talk shows that news, we decided to tune Martha to see what she had to say about her new project. After the jump, Martha's big intro to her little home mag that not only could, but most likely definitely will.
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• Journalists should just act like Al-Qaeda members. It makes sense, since according to our administration they already do. [Slate]
• Apparently you have to bash the president and call him impotent to be able to be the press secretary. Oh yeah, it doesn't hurt to be down with Fox News. [Think Progress]
• Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger gets a haircut in an attempt to fool people into thinking he knows what the fuck he's doing. The Times is just so good at insulting New Yorkers' intelligence. [NYO]
• The New York Times' Bill Keller seems to think the current administration doesn't like journalists. What would ever give anyone that impression? [National Journal]
• The next walk of shame is that of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's editor Rebecca Thuss. Her resignation went conveniently unmentioned in Blueprint's PR campaign. [Memo Pad]
Remember Budget Living? Though short-lived, the magazine had a die hard following as a tongue-in-cheek home decor on the cheap pub which offered tips on entertaining, shopping, decorating your home, and financial advice for just-starting-out thirty-somethings.
And then, in February, it closed, after many months of CEO Don Welsh keeping it up on the block.
Enter Blueprint, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's new "sassy" little mag, aimed at (you guessed it) just-starting-out thirty-somethings. With a higher demographic and a more sophisticated feel, Blueprint is sure to sell the ad pages Budget Living just couldn't cough up.
"We think this is where they're at a little more," she said. "We wanted it to be lively — a little sassy, a little cheeky."
In content, Blueprint is more similar to another recently shuttered title, Budget Living, covering areas including fashion, health, home decorating, cooking and entertaining.
Hmmm … you think Martha Stewart was one of the publishers Welsh tried to sell BL to?
Kind of Blue [Jeff Bercovici, WWD]
Blueprint Lands 48 Ads [Stephanie D. Smith, Ad Age]
Martha Stewart Omnimedia needs a boost for its heath and wellness mag Body + Soul. Yeah, we figure as much, considering it's one of the only magazines out there we've never heard of. Until today, when they grabbed In Touch Weekly's editorial director Anlanna Fincke to revamp it.
Alanna Fincke played a key role in developing In Touch Weekly’s concept and design during four years there. She also had been a contributing columnist to Body + Soul.
Well, maybe the health and wellness stuff isn't quite as thrilling and exciting as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's baby, but, working in Times Square (while its not quite Central Park) is a lot better than Englewood Cliffs.
• Maybe the The Economist's next study will be on The Economist's fleeing employees Bill Emmott and Beth O’Rorke. [MIN]
• So, Les Moonves didn't know he was paying for Sirius Satellite's advertisements? Was he simply not listening to Howard Stern's show? [NYT]
• MSLO scraps its kids publication. We hope this won't in anyway affect the much anticipated Blue Print. (Well, something needs to fill the Budget Living whole in our hearts.) [Media Week]
• Is Nancy Grace the televised version of faux memoirist James Frey? [NYO]
• Uh-oh, Donald Trump's ratings hit an all-time low. See what happens when you piss off the Martha? [FOX]
• Rupert Murdoch brings the New York Post to Boston, but snubs his old Herald pal Pat Purcell, and goes for the Globe. [Boston Globe]
• Wow, a biography of Condi Rice? Elisabeth Bumiller should write a guide on how not to end up on the Best Sellers list. [NYO]
Editorial Director
