The highly anticipated editors-in-chief luncheon that happens for the Condé Nast staff at the Four Seasons every year has just been…*gasp*…canceled. Mon dieu!
Says a spokesperson, "We are going to forgo it this year. We think it is in keeping with the times." Um, right, but whatever happened to the magazine industry's "Let them eat cake?" Guess it wouldn't look right with the fall of Men's Vogue and the scale backs at Portfolio.
Poor Si! Poor Keith Kelly who is kept in business at the Post writing about high profile/closed door media events like this. And poor anyone who thought they would be able to tell where they stand with the Newhouse clan, which apparently determines the seating arrangements at the Christmas bash.
CONTINUED »
No one is escaping the wrath over at Condé Nast's Men's Vogue, which, everyone learned yesterday, is going the way of the dodo. If the dodo was only getting published two times a year as a supplement to Vogue.
Even sadder though, is the fact that no one, not even the head honchos over at the Si Newhouse publication, saw this coming:
At Men's Vogue, most of the 60-person staff is out as of next Friday. That includes Publisher Marc Berger, who only a day ago was seen wining and dining a client at Bottega del Vino, clearly unaware of impending doom. Editor-in-Chief Jay Fielden is being absorbed back into the mothership, Vogue, which is run by editrix Anna Wintour. The shutdown is said to be a big personal embarrassment to her and her bid to expand her empire.
Whoops, is that really good business etiquette Si, to ambush your top talent like that? A little warning would have been nice, so that Berger could have added a couple more cocktails to his expense account before having his ass handed back to him and having to wait on the unemployment line with the rest of his former employees.
Holy shit. In our analysis of what magazines are getting trimmed down to nothing in the upcoming weeks or months, we somehow overlooked entirely Men's Vogue. Because hell, it's Condé Nast, and nothing bad ever happens to those guys, right? Si Newhouse practically invented the upper echelon privileges of town car services, clothing budgets, and expensive dinners for the staff, billed to the company. So there is no way that say, Men's Vogue may be cut down entirely, and every single title under the Condé umbrella will be forced to do staff cuts, is there?
Playboy announced it would be firing 55 employees and not filling an extra 25 positions that are currently empty. Sad, because the non-Hefner owned Playgirl just shut down a couple months ago. Equal opportunity suckage.
Also, Hugh Hefner's lady-friend Holly just left him, so that got to be a double sting for the 82-year old boob tycoon. Wonder if this affects the hiring of Playboy models? Heaven forbid the centerfolds get cut in half.
But the lack of employment can be found outside the pages of skin sector:
CONTINUED »
Si Newhouse's Star-Ledger looked like it was going the way of the New York Sun a couple weeks ago: with no money, tons of debt, and a union strike keeping the papers from being delivered, the obit for the publication was being written for January at the latest.
But now with the strike coming to a close and a buyout settlement being reached, the Star-Ledger might actually be salvageable, provided the staff cuts reduce the workforce from 1,000 to under 800. Sure it sucks to be those excess of 200 people who accepted the buyout requirements but won't be getting it (the paper overshot their buyout ability, now some of those that accepted the deal are going to be straight-up layoffs). But hey, who really wants to work for a paper that is going to bleed out $40 million this year alone?
Between all the bad news for print journalism, one little paper might have weathered out the storm, at least for now. Newark's Star-Ledger looked like it was heading for a financial meltdown: it's been hemorrhaging anywhere from $30-40 million annually without a buyer in sight, plus they had a pesky union problem with their truck drivers that wouldn't deliver their papers. People were taking bets on whether the Star would even last till January.
So even though there are still no buyers, and the paper is still bleeding money like a pre-op House patient with lupus (they will never figure it out in time!), the Star-Ledger, Newark's most widely distributed paper, is "close" to coming to a deal with the union that would allow Si Newhouse to continue to own New Jersey with an iron fist, at least until after January. Hurrahs all around?
The New York Times supports Barack Obama. The NY Post supports McCain. That these nationally recognized papers are invested in national politics is crucial to any election, since this is where a majority of Americans get their news (besides The Daily Show, natch) so the bias of the paper can (theoretically) sway a large constituency. Or so the thinking goes.
Not so much for the Huntsville Times, located in Alabama, which therefore elected not to support either candidate in 2008 because no one cares about them, anyway.
CONTINUED »
Hey, you know what’s probably not fun? Working for someone’s failing pet project. Especially when that someone is S.I. Newhouse and when that pet project is the $100 million money pit known as Portfolio.
S.I. Newhouse has been hanging out with Portfolio EIC Joanne Lipman. Last week, there was a breakfast meeting that ended with a new managing editor, Jacob Lewis. And this week, S.I. is making editorial changes.
CONTINUED »
Where was GQ editor Jim Nelson at Conde Nast's annual editors and publishers powerplay luncheon Nov. 29? Apparently we're the only ones who are wondering, because his absence – along with GQ publisher Peter Hunsinger – went mostly unnoticed by the Conde Nasties in attendance, we're told. Even Keith Kelly's wrap up didn't give the missing GQ bosses a thought.
For starters, their absence was excusable: Nov. 29 was also the date of GQ's "Men of the Year" Awards in L.A., where the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Al Gore, and Jay-Z walked the red carpet.
But it's the double booking that has some industry insiders concerned: Why, one tattler asks, did Conde Nast book two major events on the same night? If the GQ soiree was scheduled first, Si Newhouse booking the Conde Nast luncheon looks like an intentional snub. If Jim and Peter knew about Si's event before their planners booked the Sunset Tower Hotel, then it looks like a premeditated bitchslap toward the boss.
Surely one of you out there knows which event was scheduled first — and which party earns the title of "snubber" and "snubee."
As he does every year, Keith Kelly celebrates the holidays with a report on Conde Nast's annual power luncheon, where Si Newhouse holds court over his editors and publishers and a well-choreographed seating chart lets each person know how pleased or disappointed Si is in circulation and ad pages.
Seated at Si's right at Table 4 this year was Cindi Leive, the Glamour girl. Vanity Fair's new publisher Edward Menicheschi had the left-hand seat. And seated far, far away, at Table 1? That would be VF editor Graydon Carter. Even sagging Jane editor Brandon Holley got better treatment than that.
It seems that the secret "Freeloader" over at Advertising Age wasn't the only non "editor or publisher" invited to the great Hearst gala on Monday night. The New York Observer's Michael Calderone was there as well, sipping "Towers" (cocktails of gin, lime juice and Champagne), eating cheese puffs, and schmoozing with the likes of Oprah and Katie Couric.
And, of course, Conde Nast publisher Si Newhouse was there, Seemingly, just to show face and gobble up some lobster consommé. And being his usually not-very-friendly self.
S.I. (Si) Newhouse was there. How did the ruler of the Condé Nast building like this new showpiece magazine headquarters? Mr. Newhouse smiled indulgently, gave the questioner a grandfatherly tap on the shoulder, and turned away.
How sweet. Well, we figure either Newhouse couldn't hear over all Oprah's hand clasping and shouting about her office, his mouth was full of finger food … or his mind was overwhelmed with notions of plotting Cathie Black's destruction.
Hearst So Good: Oprah Touches Gleaming Shaft at Gala [Michael Calderone, New York Observer]
We have no idea what the bigger shocker is: Lloyd Grove bringing us another funny piece of news, or reading that the folks at Conde Nast actually eat. Lowdown hit the 4 Times Square Cafe, only to discover (gasp!) some of royal palaces members' needs were not being met.
Imagine — Conde's cafe has quite a cranky crew of cafeteria workers. How ever does giving celery to stick figures while they whack you with their Balenciagas make people so sarcastic and rude? A sample from the Conde cafe message board:
"Trisha" asked for "a jelly w/no sugar added and brown rice for sushi," and went on: "Can you order more diet root beer … and more vanilla low-cal yogurt?" The cafeteria's typed answer: "Yes we will order these things … just as soon as we change the cafe into a Health Food Store."
"Russell" asked: "How about a BLT station for the summer? Wheat toast, hickory smoked bacon, the whole nine yards!" The cafeteria's response: "How about you order a BLT from the Sandwich Station?"
We get making fun of the crazy girl who wants sugar-free jelly and diet root beer. Ew. But the greater concern should be the frittata. Is the lack of egg dishes an Anna Wintour induced request? We know sister doesn't like cooked eggs anywhere within her proximity.
At Condé Nast, a hefty serving of attitude [Lloyd Grove, Lowdown]
We knew we were going to miss her terribly when she left her job at the Memo Pad … but we didn't know we would have to miss her media gossiping before she even left! Sara James is already preparing for her new title as fashion news editor for Men's Vogue by covering fashion news for her column.
Yeah, yeah, we know its Women's Wear, and that ARTnews is a magazine, and that she mentions Si Newhouse in her column. But a whole graf devoted to the Gucci guy?
The art world is clearly benefitting from sales of Gucci handbags. François Pinault — the man behind luxury goods purveyor PPR, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and the Christie's auction house, among other holdings — made the top 10 in ArtNews magazine's list of the top 200 art collectors in the world for the first time this year — perhaps because he opened his very own museum, the Palazzo Grassi, in Venice in April.
What's up with that? So much fashion coverage, and yet nary a mention of Daniel Filipachi's (the son of Hachette director Henri Filipacchi) place on the list.
The ARTnews 200 Top Collectors [ARTnews]
More news from the Condes, but this time it actually involves the poor Fairstepchildren they've simultaneously adopted and orphaned. In AMI style, Conde Nast had offered a round of trade publications to the sacrificial auction block. Conde explains away their hacking of Fairchild's Supermarket News, Home Furnishings, and InFurniture by saying the trades "don't fit in with its mission."
About 70 editorial and other staff will be affected by the sale. The company declined to say whether it has received any offers for the three magazines.
What is this mission which could potentially put several dozen folks out of a job? To make sure that everyone who reads their publications are cloaked in white cabana wear, sipping mojitos on their beach front properties with their aviators on and prancing children frolicking in the waves. Supermarket managers just really don't fit the bill.
Conde Nast selling three Fairchild titles [Catherine Tymkiw, New York Business]
• Always beware of a guy in a fedora who threatens to bite off your boob, pee in your soup, and thinks that Page Six is the mafia.
• And magazines who lie to you about being able to see Eva Longoria from space.
• Maybe if you're lucky, Si Newhouse will buy you an apartment. But, if you suck at running a magazine, you'll probably only get a one bedroom apartment.
• Elle Girl's life gets taken before she even has a chance to become a woman. But, she will live on like the real ladies — on the internet.
• From inside AMI, the real story of Celebrity Living's demise. Even Bonnie Fuller stopped by to shake hands.
• And for once, the only magazine that nobody cares about, with the most stalked about celebrity of the month.
Sir Harold Evans is a pretty important guy. You should know who he is … mostly because he's a sir, is married to Tina Brown, holds some disdain for Mort Zuckerman, and (as insinuated by our previous theory) doesn't need to go to the Dominican Republic for his tea.
Currently, Evans' job as editor-at-large for Felix Dennis is likely being threatened. (Surely James Brady couldn't have known that when he filed his online article praising this fab position.)
Before Stuff and Maxim, though, Sir Evans did spend some time at Conde Nast. As did his wife. And they just love Si Newhouse. Well, come on, he bought them a house.
Si Newhouse? "I love Si. With Si's backing and resources, you can't go wrong unless you're a bloody fool."
And when Sir Herold is not having tea in his Sutton Place apartment, he's schooling Ariel Foxman and explaining why the Cargo editor only got a one-bedroom.
Sir Harry Never Rests [James Brady, Forbes]
We knew they had an "only the best for Condes" policy over at 4 Times Square. But (call us naive) we had no idea Si Newhouse was actually buying his employees $4 million apartments. More or less. Hey, these folks can't be entertaining the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker and Marc Jacobs in a Brooklyn loft.
As today's Observer reports, the top Conde editors must live in top Manhattan properties. It all began in the 90s, when Uncle Si reportedly picked up the mortgage on Tina Brown's $4 million four bedroom pad on East 57th St. But why stop there?
Over 20 Condé Nast executives, editors and even a couple of writers have either been loaned money directly by the company (sometimes listed as the overarching corporation, Advance Publications) or had the media giant secure mortgages in order to purchase properties, according to city records.
A brief rundown of what exactly it costs Conde Nast to hold on to their socialite editors … and their socialite statuses.
Anna Wintour: Her and her husband took out a $200,000 mortgage on their Greenwich Village townhouse — "with Condé Nast lending the money."
Graydon Carter: Him and his first wife Cynthia bought their four story Bank St. townhouse in 1999. "Shortly thereafter, the couple took out a $3.841 million mortgage, with Advance lending the money.
David Remnick : He signed a contract for a West 86th Street duplex listed at $3.25 million. "Advance secured the loan."
Jim Nelson: After taking over as EIC of GQ, "Nelson moved into a co-op apartment in a Chelsea brownstone, with Advance serving as the secured party."
Oh, and they threw Ariel Foxman a couple thou for his "oversized" one-bedroom spread. We wonder if Si is going to by his favorite Fairstepchild Brandon Holley a downtown crashpad, of if it's only the "real" Conde editors who get houses?
It’s Condo Nast: Newhouse Keeps Editors Housed [Michael Calderone, New York Observer]
Yesterday afternoon, word hit the internet at full speed that Cargo, Conde Nast's shopping magazine for men, was terminated.
Its closing marks the third in a series of magalogs for men that have bitten the glossy dust — despite their Swiss army knives and cable knit sweaters, Fairchild's Vitals and Ziff Davis Media's Sync also faced a similar fate.
Perhaps marking the end of the metrosexual reader who picks out his clothes with little sticky tabs, when the plug was pulled on Cargo, it took down household name Ariel Foxman with it. Foxman had a rough stint over at Conde; he didn't want to put women on Cargo's cover, he didn't play the GQ/Details, 'gay or straight?' game, and perhaps most detrimental, he pissed of the big guns.
According to one insider, in December, Foxman showed up late to a holiday cocktail party Condé Nast chairman S.I. Newhouse Jr. held for the company's editors — a faux pas no employee who felt himself to be on the hot seat would presumably make.
Ouch. (Remember that folks, when you go to apply for your job at 4 Times Square.) Still, as naive as Foxman may have been, it's not easy selling magazines when your entire demographic is acting like a bunch of gruppie dumb shits.
Dumping Cargo [Jeff Bercovici, Sara James, WWD]
Condé Nast to Close Cargo Magazine [New York Times, AP]
We always knew Conde Nast's HR was a friggin' steel trap. And you know how everyone jokes that you need a personal invitation from them to even apply for a job?
It's not a joke anymore. Or, it's even a bigger joke than it ever was. Or, the fact that we were invited to apply for a job there is just too meta fucked up for 5 pm on a Friday. (Well, at least if we did work at Conde drinks would be on Si.)
Even though a few independent magazines, like New York, and The Atlantic received some ASME praise in the form of Ellie noms, WWD would like to remind us that the big mag companies are really where it's all about.
Still, the day was hardly a bust for Condé Nast Publications (which owns WWD), which reaped a total of 24 nominations — triple the number received by Time Inc., which had eight, and quadruple Hearst's six. In the women's fashion category, Condé Nast was the only media company represented …
We bet Si Newhouse comes through the not 4 Times Square Conde Nast building and threatens the former Fairchilders with promises of a cafeteria if they don't praise the glory of the Conde.
New Yorker's Off Year [Jeff Bercovici, WWD]
Earlier: ASME nominations: The day many a mag editor gets drunk at Michael's
Editorial Director
