You looking for a job a job working for a magazine? Shoot, get in line, or go apply for Stylista Cycle 2. Because times are tight, but you already knew that.
So you'll be pleased to know you can start sprucing up your resume: OK!'s Kent Brownridge is looking to hire five full time staffer, two on the business side, three on the editing.
Brownridge is telling insiders that he's using "celebrity" friend's recommendations, like that of Bonnie Fuller, to help vet potential applicants.
Wait, is that the same Bonnie Fuller that was originally supposed to be taking over at OK!? Right after Brownridge fired editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens and executive Rob Shuter?
Well, at least now you know whose position you'll be taking if you get the gig.
It wasn't the $2 million-plus Bonnie Fuller, nor Janice Min's former No. 2 (and former British OK! chief) Nicola McCarthy who will be replacing Sarah Ivens (who says she gave notice back in June) atop OK!. Instead, new-ish general manager Kent Brownridge opted for Susan Toepfer of Hearst's recently shuttered Quick & Simple, a might-as-well-be eponym for the tabloid biz. More interesting, though, is Brownridge's unexpected shakeup on the publisher side: Out is Tom Morrissey, in is Lori Burgess. Nevermind that Morrisey brought ad pages up 34 percent through September in an industry where that type of thing is usually rewarded with use of the corporate jet. Burgess, meanwhile, left her SVP spot Niche Media in March, where she landed after publisher gigs at House & Garden and Elle.
So what does all of this say? Common wisdom might suggest Brownridge selected Toepfer and Burgess because he got them on the cheap — in an effort to reduce owner Richard Desmond's growing fears of having sunk too much cash into his American tabloid spinoff. But Brownridge can often be overheard spewing his arithmetic model: The tabloid business is full of fixed costs (printing, checkout aisle pockets, photos), and any publisher knows those costs before getting into the game, so it makes zero sense to skimp on the talent, who are responsible for trying to fashion OK! into a leader among the competition. That is: Cutting costs over staffers doesn't make much sense.
Oh, and all this nonsense about Brownridge trying to woo Bonnie Fuller with that consulting gig? Apparently not much truth to it.
JOSSIP REPORTS — The story behind Clay Aiken's coming out cover for People goes something like this: Lots of magazines were in the running for the photo exclusive, but People outbid them all for a cool $500,000. That's the way MSNBC's The Scoop reported it last week, and that's the story Page Six carried this morning.
Except as our sources tell it — and these are the type of sources who were, let's say, involved in the actual transaction — OK! didn't have a shot in hell at the pictures. In fact, no tabloid did. Not Us Weekly, not Star, and certainly not In Touch or Life & Style.
Despite what OK! might have you believe, the only way Clay's coming out would be told was in the pages of People. And that's exactly how it happened. Here's why: CONTINUED »
Despite OK! publicist Brian Strong's insistence that everything at the tabloid was A-, uh, OK, the ushering in of Kent Brownridge has brought real turmoil. Two weeks ago we told you executive editor Rob Shuter had been fired, but the tabloid tried playing it off as a "resignation." And today, on a news dump Friday, editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens hand delivers to Keith Kelly her own "voluntary resignation" — she'll be gone by Christmas, she says, and insists she made the decision in June before Brownridge ever showed up — which only fuels speculation that Brownridge is looking to team up with a one Bonnie Fuller, who was editing Us Weekly back when he was Jann Wenner's No. 2 at Wenner Media, to fill the top slot at OK!.
Oh, and if this series of coincidences isn't enough for you — the same day Ivens silver-platters her exit scoop to Kelly, an "anonymous source" tells Page Six that OK! that owner Richard Desmond & Co. are turning off the endless cash stream that's kept the American tabloid afloat since its inception three years ago. Shocking!
If Ivens is the plant on that one — and all sources point to a strong possibility — what a nice send-off it is to paint OK! as a tabloid in peril, with tightened purse strings and no cash on hand to pay for big photo exclusives.
Oh, and one final dig: CONTINUED »
Has OK! already hired a new executive editor to replace Rob Shuter? Yes!, according to one source rebounding off our earlier item. Or: No!, according to OK!'s publicist Brian Strong, who tells us things are just super at the magazine. Which has to be true — Sarah Ivens is still in engagement (and pregnancy) bliss!
OK! has even more good news to celebrate. Not only did this week's issue feature their $1 million Jamie Lynn Spears' baby photo coup, and not only did they score Matthew McConaughey's baby pics in a $3 million multi-tier deal, but now editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens is getting married! We hear OK!'s chief, who's currently in London, just got engaged to a one Russell Moffett who she knew back when they studied at Kent together in the U.K. (He now lives in Kentucky.) A romance was rekindled this year — one source says as early as six weeks ago — and now word arrives from London that there's an engagement ring resting on her figure.
Growing its reputation for telling lies with pictures, OK! magazine bounces from last week's issue, where they used a five-year-old photo of Britney Spears to claim she lost weight, to this week's issue, where they crop out Eva Longoria from a photo to make readers believe there's something going on between Orlando Bloom and Jennifer Aniston.
We're not quite sure how we missed this The Insider segment last week — oh wait, yes we are: We never watch that show. But it featured OK! magazine chief Sarah Ivens walking viewers through the very intricate process of producing a tabloid each week. How do they choose photos? (They look at them!) How do they choose who goes on the cover? (They default to Brangelina!)
So why, one might ask, is OK! popping up on The Insider? Because it's all part of their gossip-sharing arrangement: The CBS-produced tabloid show plugs OK!, and OK! hand delivers their scoops to them instead of the competition.
OK! magazine might be willing to reach deep into its pockets for scoops, but when it comes to the paper the tabloid is printed on, they're coming up empty.
If you'll take a gander at this week's issue, you'll notice the paper stock is lighter, which means the paper itself is thinner, and more prone to bleed-through. That's because the Northern & Shell mag downgraded its paper stock as a cost-cutting measure. (The more to ply you with, Jamie-Lynn.)
Not only might readers find the Richard Desmond-owned tabloid cheap, but advertisers are, too. And they're not happy.
In some issues of the magazine examined, full-page color ads are bleeding through to the opposite page, obscuring editorial, and vice versa. One such instance is a full-page Quaker ad for the brand's Sweet & Salty Crunch Granola Bars.
OK!'s Quaker account is a significant one: They've been advertising inside the magazine in every issue, we're told, and closed the account off to other celeb weeklies without much consideration. And that might make sense, since OK!'s Midwest ad sales director, Jeremy Greenspan, is married to a one Sarah Greenspan, who just happens to be the associate media director at Quaker's agency OMD in Chicago.
To be sure, nepotism in publishing and advertising isn't exactly surprising; relationships, whether platonic or otherwise, run this business.
But who, then, is looking out for Quaker when it comes to their crappy-looking advertising in OK!? The suits at PepsiCo might want to know.
Although we can’t always shake the nasty habit of writing in the royal we, occasionally one of our editors decides to shake off the cloak of anonymity to write a short, pithy statement long, rambling diatribe about a topic of their choice. Today, Debbie Newman is that editor.
Scarlett Johansson, the actress best known for her throaty voice, enormous breasts and inability to save The Nanny Diaries has preemptively threatened Us Weekly with a lawsuit over this week's cover story suggesting that the buxom starlet went under the knife.
A boring, legalese statement issued by Johansson claims the article's "clear implication that she has had plastic or cosmetic surgery on her nose is an outrageous and defamatory fabrication lacking any conceivable basis or proof."
Well, obvs! We are, after all, talking about celebrity weeklies, here. Meanwhile, unwilling to leave well enough alone, OK! goes from exalting in Us' impending legal woes to slamming its more successful rival with demoralizing accusations of shoddy journalism.
Exclusive:
After a year-long stint at Gatecrasher, gossip girl Laura Schreffler (right) is ditching the Daily Snooze in favor of a new gig as senior writer for OK! magazine, leaving the features managing editor (and intimidating Irishwoman) Orla Healy behind in favor of buxom Brit Sarah Ivens.
And with Schreffler originally slated to take a features position in the Daily News' Los Angeles bureau, some PR insiders are already whispering that some last minute "drama" and/or internal conflict was the cause for the split.
Schreffler is quick to dispel those rumors, however, insisting she left Orla and the Daily News on "great terms," and explaining "I just didn't feel that being a hard news reporter was the right move for me." (In which case, OK! magazine was definitely the way to go!)
OK! magazine breaks off its annoying multiple-issue deal with devoted father/publicity whore Larry Birkhead after plummeting sales figures prove nobody else gives a shit rumors surface that he and Howard K. Stern may have some sort of a backroom deal during the Anna Nicole Smith custody proceedings.
How does OK! editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens know she's on the brink of success? Because all of the most prominent gossip columnists keep whispering that she's on the verge of getting fired. Which means she's really made it! Either that or, you know, she's really about to get fired.
Not one to let Lindsay Lohan steal the crazyperson spotlight, Britney Spears has reportedly gone on an open-door peeing, fried chicken eating, couture gown-ruining rampage.
"It was like a cry for help really, it wasn't normal," says OK! magazine's editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens, an unbiased witness to the meltdown, who clearly has zero motivation to exaggerate slightly in an obvious attempt to boost mag sales.
And while we're not sure exactly what did or didn't happen at the "disastrous photo shoot," Page Six and the Daily News have both done their homework (read: flipped through their advance copies of OK! magazine) and have helpfully broken it down for us.
Writes in an informant with at least a working knowledge of how the tabloid business operates:
OK! has no Britney exclsuive [sic] photos and the interview's bad…no real revelations. Sarah Ivens is trying to make herself look good in front of her bosses as her ass is on the line because sales are poor. Richard Desmond's pumping millions into it but news stand sales struggle to get above 400,000. No one wants to advertise in the magazine. He's losing patience with Ivens. She's planning her exit strategy by putting out stories about herself.
While some of this makes sense – especially the "no real revelations" part, because really, what else is there to learn about Britney's miserable existence? – it is worth noting that OK! owner Desmond does seem to be in this for the long-ish haul. His significant investments in the U.S. market remain and continue to grow. From his perspective, the British Pound vs. U.S. Dollar factor means he's spending half as much as we think he is.
Whether Ivens stays on with his attempt to conquer the U.S. market (and trust us, that is his intent), however, is another matter entirely. And one we're perfectly willing to speculate on.
Elsewhere, those "photos" that OK! is bragging about? They're right here on Mollygood. And if that's all there is, well, there's no need to get all excited.
• Jim Schachter is there to help New York Times magazine with their "growing pains." We wonder if he's just as dreamy as Kirk Cameron? [Gawker]
• Sarah Ivens explains that she is "priceless." In other words, it's embarrassing how little OK! is paying her. [NYP]
• MySpace takes down 200,000 "offensive sites." We're so glad Colin Farrell is my Bitch wasn't a victim of this. [FT]
• It's true … but not that sad. Kimora Lee Simmons and and Russell Simmons are officially a non-item. [People]
• The Villager always does such a good job reporting on what the NYU newspaper is reporting on. [The Viilager]
• Miuccia Prada to design for H&M? Start preparing for full-contact shopping. [Vogue]
OK! magazine is shrinking, and in so many more ways than one. Not only is the unfab tab lowering its price from $3.29 to $1.99, it's also micro-sizing from Colin Ferrell size mag to about that of Jude Law.
The issue that goes on newsstands this week will measure 9- by 11.25-inches — bigger than the 8.5- by 10.5-inches typical of other weeklies, but smaller than the 12- by 9.5-inches it started out with.
Oh, yeah, and did we mention the magazine is hacking away at its staff, too? Fresh-ish into our inbox, a little Valentine's admiration just for us lays out the details of the latest OK! scandu.
Major layoffs is OK!'s answer to their financial struggle. Changing their edit content to be more tabloidish — something they said they would never do … indicate OK! is not ok at all.
My friends in the industry tell me they have already begun layoffs and are planning many more in the coming months. They are losing a huge amount of money every week and lay-offs are their answer to the obvious problems they are having.
Maybe they reverted to a smaller magazine so that it will be easier to put together for their smaller staff? Either way, some are being served their walking papers, while others pull a Sarah Ivens and just walk. Case in point? Today's mediabistro posting: "OK! Magazine is seeking an experienced full-time Art Director."
Note: you will have to work in an almost empty office, void of senior editors, EAs, photo assistants, and fact-checkers.
OK DOWNSIZES [Jeff Bercovici, WWD]
Earlier: OK! Moving On
The British tabloid OK! isn't doing too hot over here in America. Plans to cut the newsstand price from $3.29 to $1.99 infer that buyers are going to need an incentive to buy this rag. Really, though, who wants to pay to read all that nice-y nice stuff about celebs when they could just watch Extra for free?
In addition to slashing the cover price, OK! has also reduced it's print order from their publisher. To top it off, editor-in-chief, Sarah Ivens, who had been planning on ditching the shit bucket in February, has decided to reschedule her departure for an earlier (yet unannounced) date.
Maybe when new EIC Nicola McCartney comes on over, things won't seem as bad. At least staffers up their chances of not standing by and watching another boss drink her problems away at next year's holiday party. If there is a still a magazine by next year's holiday party.
OK! Stoops to Conquer [Jeff Bercovici, WWD]
Early Departure [Ricard Johnson, Page Six]
• Connie Chung and Maury Pouvich move to weekends, where we will see them in a way never thought possible. Supposedly, they are expected to be funny. [TV Newser]
• Even though he's been dead for a few months now, we had to wait for 2006 for the official "Peter Jennings Era" to be over. [TMZ]
• The New York Times ponders what a free press really means. No, of course not for them, for Russia. [NYT]
• What you can expect from Time Warner in 2006: More celeb weeklies, the re-birth of Radar, and Sarah Ivens getting deporting. Hey, Keith Kelly can dream. [NYP]
• Is Katie Couric too scared of the news to be an anchor, or is the public too scared of her handing out the news? Either way, the bejesus is being frightened out of us all. [Chicago Sun-Times ]
• Sorry, sorry, we didn't know. OK!'s Sarah Ivens isn't a whore, she's separated. [Gatecrasher]
• Johnny Knoxville tries to write a book, but he can't lay off the sauce. Oh, Johnny, we couldn't relate more. [The Scoop]
• Broke and off coke, Courtney Love sells her rights to Kurt Cobain's music. [Page Six]
• No real actresses want to be Bond girls, so they offer the part to Jessica Simpson. [Egotastic]
• Joaquin Pheonix gives prisoners a reason to live. Sort of. [TMZ]
• In case Renee Zellweger's wedding didn't bore you enough, you can now yawn incessently over her annulment. [AP]
Editorial Director
