Time Staffers Miffed at Old Lang's Sign-Off & Payout

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A 15-month job tenure yields a $19 million payout over four years. Nice work if you can get it.

Staffers at Time, Inc., however, are not happy that Laura Lang, hired in 2012 as CEO of the company for a four-year term, but who announced her intended departure in March 2013, is netting a sweet payout, according to a column in today's New York Post.

The Post piece reports that Lang, who oversaw layoffs of 500 employees and a salary freeze (see "TUOL" posts 1/11/13 & 1/31/13), received a $1 million salary in 2012--her one full year on the job--and close to $1 million for her brief stay this year.  With stock value and bonus, her 2012 earnings reached $7.6 million. Additionally, the Post reported she received a $2.5 million separation bonus this year, and is expected to reap a $2.3 million "transaction bonus" next year over the splitting off of Time, Inc. from Time Warner, which mostly was overseen by Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes.

Lang announced in March she would step down as soon as a replacement was found, which was in August, though her contract carried through last month. Meanwhile, according to the Post, Time, Inc. managers lost their stock option grants with the Time Warner spinoffs.

Well, at least some people are finding magazine journalism profitable nowadays.

UPDATE: New York Magazine Goes Biweekly Next March

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As reported here last month (see "TUOL" post 10/17/13), New York magazine will publish every other week beginning in March 2014, according to articles in The New York Times and The Wrap.

The 45-year-old magazine founded by Clay Felker, once the hub of "New Journalism" where writers such as Nora Ephon, Jimmy Breslin and Tom Wolfe flourished, hopes to realize $3.5 million in savings by cutting back 13 issues. The magazine will continue to publish its special issues devoted to the best doctors, food & drink and gift guide, according to The Wrap.

The magazine also will be rolling out a new style makeover. Although New York nabbed a 2013 best magazine award from the American Society of Magazine Editors, it has not escaped the dwindling ad pages and circulation drop-off that have plagued periodicals. Alliance for Audited Media figures place the magazine's subscriber base at 400,000, but ad pages this year declined 9.2 percent compared to year-ago figures.

At the same time, digital traffic is up 19 percent to nine million unique visitors monthly, according to comScore. The Times reported that the magazine plans to hire 15 staffers to bolster online content and ad sales.

New York is owned by the heirs of Bruce Wasserstein, who purchased the magazine in 2004 before his death in 2009.

Forbes Courting a Buyer?

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Grappling with declining print revenue, Forbes Media LLC has put itself up for sale, reportedly seeking a $400 million to $500 million ticket price, according to Ad Week.

With Publishers Information Bureau figures showing a 7.5 percent decline in print ad revenues over the first three quarters of 2013 compared to year-ago numbers, Forbes has lined up the Deutsche Bank to explore a sale. The esteemed business journal was established in 1917 by B.C. Forbes and remained the sole property of the Forbes family until Elevation Partners, a private equity firm, became a minority partner in 2006.

Since then, Forbes defaulted on a $90 million credit line, necessitating the sale of private family assets, including an island in Fiji, which led to the 2010 ouster of Steve Forbes as CEO and hiring of Mike Perlis, according to the Ad Week article.  Perlis cited comscore worldwide figures that shows Forbes.com unique visitors skyrocketing to 26 million from 12 million over the past three years as an indication that the media company would be attractive to suitors.

The Ad Week article speculated that a private equity firm would be most likely to take the plunge in acquiring Forbes Media LLC. The company has shifted its emphasis to its conference business and online edition, noting that its digital magazine provides more than half of its ad revenue.

Closer Opens with a Splash; Will It Sink or Swim?

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Hamburg, Germany-based Bauer Media Group is going all-out in its debut of Closer magazine, ordering a print run of two million and an inaugural newsstand price of 25 cents, the New York Post reported today.

The magazine targets the oft-neglected demographic of women aged 40 and older, and will fill its pages with celebrity profiles, health, fashion and diet news, so, no heavy-lifting here. That goes for the premiere issue, featuring Valerie "Rhoda" Harper on the cover, which weighs in at 76 pages, but ominously, only 17 ad pages, according to the Post article.

Future issues (which is not to say that Closer has a solid future) will sell for $3.99 on newsstands, the Post reported. At least it promises to be a Miley Cyrus-free zone.

As the Magazine World (In)terns

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Magazine monolith Conde Nast is dropping its intern program at the end of this year, according to Women's Wear Daily (www.wwd.com).

Wary of a rising industry trend and itself mired in two lawsuits brought by two former interns alleging they were paid below minimum wage during their apprenticeships, Conde Nast has opted to discontinue its internship program, the WWD article reports. Lawsuits against the magazine publisher brought by former W intern Lauren Ballinger and one-time New Yorker intern Matthew Lieb are still pending.

Hearst has been sued by a former Harper's Bazaar intern and Fox Searchlight settled a lawsuit brought by two former interns, among other media conglomerates that have operated training programs accused of under-paying interns.

New York: City May Never Sleep, but Magazine May Come Out Only Bi-weekly

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Flat circulation and dwindling ad revenues may force New York, the weekly magazine that Clay Felker debuted in 1968, to publish only biweekly in 2014, the New York Post reports.

New York CEO Anup Bagaria acknowledged that printing less frequently is one option being weighed. Like much of the industry, New York has been hurt by fewer ad pages in its print edition, suffering a 12 percent drop-off in 2008 from a peak 3,343 ad pages in 2007 and a 27 percent plunge in 2009. Meanwhile, circulation has stagnated at around 400,000 for the print version.

Digital ads account for half the journal's ad revenues, according to the Post article.

Are Bake Sales Next?

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It's come to this: editorial staffers at The New Republic have been selling subscriptions to the liberal periodical to their friends and family members, vying for the chance to win an iPad Mini if they outsold their colleagues.

Forbes Magazine reported today on the intra-office competition, which management labeled a team-building exercise, but there may be something bigger and sadder at work here. Swiss Army knife journalist has entered the lexicon, the Forbes article noted, to describe the role of reporters in today's depleted newsrooms, which includes writing and editing, snapping photos and making videos, recording podcasts and writing code.
A direct plea for financial assistance to readership is gaining traction among publications as advertising revenue evaporates and circulation continues to shrink at most magazines.

The senior editor who bested her co-workers by selling 55 of the 309 special promotional subscriptions sold may have added to her skills set, but it remains to be seen whether TNR, whose circulation has roughly remained in the 50,000 range over the past several years, will benefit in the long run. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes acquired the periodical in 2012 and assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief.

Fund-raising tip to TNR: gift-wrap and restaurant coupons are easier to hawk than magazines.

Dr. Oz Gives Till It Hearst

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We're just a couple of weeks away from Hearst Corp., publisher of Esquire and Cosmopolitan, unveiling the name of a new magazine that will be branded around celebrity doc Mehmet Oz, Ad Age reports.

According to Ad Age, the periodical's title may be The Good Life and will somehow work in the name of Dr. Oz. And why not, given that the 53-year-old cardiothoracic surgeon has been a hot property since first appearing on Oprah Winfrey's show in 2004, which led to his own series beginning in 2009, cleverly named The Dr. Oz Show.

The Cleveland native, whose parents are Turkish emigrants, has written for numerous Hearst magazines. His own journal is expected to focus on food, beauty, and physical and emotional well-being, according to the Ad Age article. Two pilot issues are expected to debut in 2014, and Ad Age reports the initial issue will have a rollout of 350,000 newsstand copies, while another 450,000 copies will be sent to subscribers of other select Hearst titles.

The magazine publisher is hoping to capture lightning in a bottle in ways that the disappointing O: The Oprah Magazine has not.  It remains to be seen whether a celebrity physician can cure the sagging ad revenues and circulation that afflict magazines nowadays.

Open your mouth and say: "Oz."

Newspaper Guild Accuses Newsweek Owner of Unfair Labor Practices

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Maybe IBT Media, the upstart digital publisher that produces The International Business Times and recently snatched up Newsweek for a song (see "TUOL" post 8/5/13), should take a Dale Carnegie course in how to win friends and influence people.

The ink hasn't dried on the Newsweek acquisition and  Ad Week already is reporting that The Newspaper Guild last week filed an unfair labor practices charge against the new owner. IBT purportedly offered four Newsweek staffers continued employment, but indicated that company policy prohibited their discussing salary with colleagues or criticizing IBT.  The Guild condemned IBT for "illegally muzzling" its workers and alleged the company had violated U.S. labor law.

That determination will be made by the National Labor Relations Board. If the NLRB finds merit in the accusation, it will file a complaint against IBT. According to the Ad Week story, Newsweek only has a staff of 20, down from 150 just three years ago, so there's barely anyone around in the lunch room to whom one could complain about low pay or the boss.

Maxim Mum on Sale Price in Darden Media Group Acquisition

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Alpha Media Group has unloaded Maxim Magazine to the Darden Media Group ("DMG") for an undisclosed purchase price, Ad Week reported today.

In the deal, Darden will take over the two-million circulation periodical, its 15 international versions and digital extensions, according to Ad Week. The 18-year-old magazine was founded by British publisher Felix Dennis.  DMG reportedly plans to shake-up the one-time cutting-edge men's magazine by expanding the name across radio, cable and music platforms.

DMG is headed up by Cal Darden Sr., a former executive for United Parcel Service, so he knows a hot package when he sees one. Guess that means Maxim won't be running a Girls of Federal Express pictorial anytime soon.

'Time' to Eat & Travel

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Time, Inc., the nation's largest magazine publisher, will acquire Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure and the rest of the stable of American Express, Inc.'s publishing arm, according to the Associated Press.

Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close during the last quarter of 2013, were not disclosed. The deal will be finalized at around the same time Time Warner Inc. splits off  the Time, Inc. magazine division, publisher of Time, Sports Illustrated and People, among other titles, from Time Warner, which will concentrate on Warner Bros. studio and its tv holdings (See "TUOL" post 3/7/13].

Forbes' Case of Mistaken Preference Prompts Apology to Ireland Prez

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An online article in Forbes magazine that erroneously described the 72-year-old president of Ireland as an "acknowledged homosexual" has prompted the business periodical to apologize to its readers and to the Emerald Isle's leader, the Associated Press reported today.

Michael D. Higgins, a Limerick native who is married and the father of four, has not responded to Forbes' gaffe or apology. Higgins, a poet who was elected President in 2011 defeated, among other candidates, openly gay Sen. David Norris, according to the AP story. Billionaire founder of the magazine, Malcolm Forbes, was outed by a magazine as gay shortly after his death in 1990.

Forbes has since pulled the inaccurate story from its Web site.

Media Outlet Less GOOD than Before

Just a year after GOOD Worldwide LLC shut down its magazine and abruptly terminated much of its editorial staff on a grim June day, the media platform last week laid off its creative producer and a coder, Poynter.org reported.

 CEO Ben Goldhirsh last fall oversaw GOOD Worldwide LLC as it remade itself into a "community platform" that reports on and promotes nonprofits, businesses and individuals engaged in "pushing the world forward." Apparently, the company hasn't stopped pushing employees out the door.

'Makes Sense Dept.': PCWorld Magazine Goes Digital-Only

Following the lead of many of its competitors, San Francisco-based PCWorld magazine, owned by IDG, ends a 30-year run with its August 2013, edition, and will continue as a digital-only monthly computer magazine, according to an article by Techland.time.com.

The sensible decision to focus on digital and Web site issues was made by IDG in hopes of retrieving a readership that has shrunk by two-thirds. Rivals, such as PC Magazine and Laptop, already publish online only, since 2008 and 2012, respectively. Computer geeks who still like to get ink on their fingers can thumb through paper editions of Macworld and MacLife.

PCWorld debuted on newsstands in 1983.

Saudi Prince Sues Forbes for Libel Over Low Placement on Rich List

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England's recent defamation law reforms (see "TUOL" post 4/29/13) will be put to the test by billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whom The Guardian Web site (www.guardian.co.uk) reports has sued Forbes Magazine for allegedly under-reporting the extent of his wealth.

The 58-year-old Alwaleed, whose Kingdom Holding investments include swanky hotels the Savoy in London and New York City's Plaza, filed a libel suit in London's High Court against Forbes Editor Randall Lane, along with the business magazine's publisher and two of its reporters. Apparently, Forbes' annual Rich List assessed the Prince's worth at $20 billion, whereas Alwaleed pegs his fortune at closer to $30 billion, and claims Forbes is "demonstrably biased" against Saudi Arabian businesses.

Forbes, according to The Guardian article, said members of the Prince's inner circle lobbied the magazine for higher placement on the Rich List for Alwaleed, who, apparently finds little solace in the fact that his private Boeing 747 jet is equipped with a solid gold throne that no doubt affords him ample leg room. The magazine reported that it calculated Kingdom Holding's worth based on the value of its investments, rather than its stock price on Saudi Arabia's Tadawul stock exchange.

The Prince faces an uphill challenge as England, once decried as the principal destination for libel tourism, will require him to prove that he suffered, or is likely to suffer, serious financial harm as a result of the allegedly libelous lower placement on the Rich List. If he somehow manages to do that, Forbes will look to the SPEECH (Securing the Protection of our Enduring & Established Constitutional Heritage) Act signed into law by President Obama in 2010 that shields U.S. citizens and businesses against foreign libel judgments that run afoul of First Amendment tenets.

That Alwaleed would get his royal knickers in a twist and incur the costs of a quixotic libel suit alleging his reputation was harmed because a media defendant underestimated his wealth may not warrant higher placement on Forbes' Rich List, but certainly is evidence to the staff of "TUOL" that he has too much money for his own good.

Marijuana Mags Ask Fed Court in Colo. to Bale Them Out in 1st Amendment Suit

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A trio of magazines promoting marijuana use last week filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado to stop enactment of a state law that would restrict access of the journals to persons under age 21.

Colorado voters last November passed Amendment 64 legalizing recreational use of marijuana by adults.  Gov. John Hickenlooper last Tuesday signed into law H.B. 13-1317, scheduled to take effect in July, that mandates non-marijuana stores to keep cannabis-related magazines "behind the counter in establishments where persons under twenty-one years of age are present," traditionally the vaunted location where Hustler and other adult magazines dwell in clear plastic wrapping.

Arguing the measure illegally restricts content and violates their First Amendment rights, High Times magazine, joined by The Hemp Connoisseur and The Daily Doobie (no, really...) rolled into federal court seeking an injunction, according to a report by the Associated  Press. Other pot regs approved by Gov. Hickenlooper would ban cartoon characters and like images from being used in advertising that might influence children to ensure marijuana isn't marketed to minors.

Counsel for the magazines correctly noted that Amendment 64 elevated marijuana to the same level of legality as alcohol and that access to magazines such as Food & Wine is not restricted. Colorado has 20 days in which to respond to the suit.

Never one to cast stoners, "TUOL" generally approves of First-Amendment boosting suits, but is better-versed in grass roots movements than in movements rooted in grass.

Anyone Wanna Buy a Debt-Laden, Subscriber-Deprived, Digital-Only News Journal?

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Maybe three times will be the charm for beleaguered IAC-owned Newsweek.

Once boasting a circulation of three million, Newsweek has changed hands twice in the past three years. Acquired in 2010 from The Washington Post Co. for $1 plus assumption of its considerable debt by the late audio magnate Sidney Harman, Newsweek merged with the Daily Beast in 2012 and its present majority owner, Barry Diller's IAC, is looking to unload the forlorn digital-only publication, Variety reports.

Online traffic reportedly has reportedly shrunk by one million unique visitors over the past four months and its subscription base has plunged from 1.5 million to 470,000, according to the Variety article. The magazine renamed its digital version Newsweek Global, even though, unlike in the U.S., print editions of the newsweekly are still available around the world pursuant to royalty arrangements.

Newsweek debuted a revamped Web site this month, and Variety reported the publication has plans to unveil a paywall that will charge Web site visitors $2.99 a month to subscribe. Diller has been quoted in the press recently as saying he regrets purchasing the 80-year-old publication.

Journalism Watchdog Suffering from Distemper?

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Cyndi Stivers,  the one-time managing editor of  EW.com, has stepped down as Editor-in-Chief of Columbia Journalism Review, a post she held since November 2011, to become editor-in-chief of AOL.com, capitalnewyork.com reported last week.

Stivers' departure comes amid severe ax-wielding at CJR that includes the planned June layoffs of Executive Editor Mike Hoyt, who has served in that capacity for a decade, and Editor-at-Large Justin Peters, as well as an ultimatum to staffers Curtis Brainard and Dean Starkman to accept half-time employment or be laid off, according to the capitalnewyork.com article.

The newsroom shake-up at CJR, a bimonthly periodical that has covered the journalism industry since 1961, coincides with Steve Coll becoming Dean at Columbia Journalism School, replacing Nick Lemann. The school publishes CJR, which is funded through advertising, subscriptions, foundation funding and grants.

According to the capitalnewyork post, the industry-wide malaise in advertising revenue and circulation is attributed to CJR's anticipated shortfall in meeting its fund-raising goals. CJR reimburses the amount of its annual budget that is advanced by the journalism school. Neither CJR nor the school responded to the capitalnewyork.com piece.

Consumer Magazines' Ad Pages Continue Freefall in 1Q of 2013

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Half of the 213 consumer magazines tracked by Publishers Information Bureau ("PIB") suffered declining ad pages during the First Quarter of 2013 compared to the same period a year ago, MediaPost.com reported today.

Although the painful drop-off in ad revenues was widespread, celebrity, lifestyle and women's interest periodicals were particularly hard hit, according to the MediaPost article. Ladies Home Journal experienced a 28 percent decrease to 122 ad pages, Maxim saw a 36 percent shrinkage of ad pages down to 53, Forbes dropped 19 percent to 266 ad pages and OK Weekly was not okay with  22 percent fewer ad pages at 263, compared to the periodicals' respective figures for the first three months of 2012.

The PIB survey found that 67 of the titles it tracked lost 10 percent of their ad pages in a 2013 to 2012 comparision, and 31 periodicals sustained more than a 20 percent decrease in First Quarter 2013 ad pages.

Only bad dogs were heartened by the latest financial news, because it won't hurt as much when owners rap them on the nose with ad-deprived, rolled-up magazines.

UPDATE: Readers Digest Submits Chapter 11 Plan to Bankruptcy Court

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RDA Holding Co., publisher of the 91-year-old Reader's Digest magazine, last week submitted its proposed Chapter 11 reorganization plan to United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Robert Drain.

As reported here (see "TUOL" post 2/19/13), in In re RDA Holding Co., Inc. (Docket No. 13-22233), Judge Drain will have to approve the plan that 70 percent of noteholders accepted last month that converts into new equity $231 million in notes, roughly 80 percent of the troubled publisher's debt, according to an article by Bloomberg News. About $244.9 million in notes is being considered a general unsecured claim under the proposed plan, Bloomberg reported.

The plan is hazy about how creditors to the tune of $380 million will be repaid. In the interim, RDA Holding Co. secured a $105 million debtor-in-possession loan from lenders organized by a Wells Fargo & Co. unit. Reader's Digest, which claims assets and liabilities exceeding $1 billion, also filed for bankruptcy in 2009 (see "TUOL" post 8/17/09).