FOLIO: Personalities -- The Blog People Page

It’s been more than a year since former Alaska governor and ex-Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin did her first in a series of on-camera interviews with CBS’ Katie Couric. In case you’ve somehow forgotten, it was during that interview in October 2008 that Couric asked Palin what newspapers and magazines she read to inform her worldview. A visibly annoyed Palin said she reads “most of them,” “all of ‘em,” “any of ‘em,” but wouldn’t (or couldn’t) name even one specific news source.

Now, after so ma More...

Wednesday was the deadline for representatives of the Newspaper Guild to notify Time Inc. brass about how many staffers accepted buyout offers as the company looks to eliminate as many as 500 from its overall workforce.

Time Inc. is expected to begin slashing jobs as early as next week. The number of cuts will depend on how many volunteers stepped up for the buyout packages. I was told today by a company spokesperson, not unexpectedly, that Time Inc. won’t be disclosing the number of employees who accepted the buyouts.

The New York Post’s Keith Kelly has a relatively detailed More...

Ever since taking over as Playboy Enterprises CEO in June, Scott Flanders has been adamant that he is not only “absolutely committed” to keeping Playboy in print, but that he’s a big believer in print and that he’s certain “the magazine will come back” to profitability.

More recently, during an earnings call last week, Flanders said that while “bolder steps are required” to get the print edition in the black More...

After a more than hour-long debate, six panelists were split between two candidates they thought should be named Time magazine’s 2009 Person of the Year. Neither, for the record, were actually human beings.

Three panelists voted for Twitter. Three voted for the economy.

“Twitter affects a lot of people, but not as many as the economy,” said former New York City mayor and debate panelist Rudy Giuliani. “From the wealthy to the poor who are out of jobs, the economy affects us all.” Other panelists included Barbara Walters; cardiac surgeon and newly-named television show host Dr. Mehmet Oz; O the Oprah Magazin More...

In terms of innovation in the print medium, Hearst’s Esquire magazine has been a pioneer on a number of fronts in recent months. Last year, it partnered with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based E Ink to produce an electronic “paper” display for the magazine’s 75th anniversary October issue. Then in February, Esquire produced a cover “window” that opened to a mini table of contents and featured an advertisement on the back flap. Its May “How to Be a Man” issue featured More...

It’s been a whirlwind year for high-end Southern lifestyle magazine Garden & Gun. In January, rumors swirled that it was on course to run out of money and go out of business. Less than two months later, the magazine was acquired by Indigo Acquisition LLC, a company co-created by publisher Rebecca Darwin—effectively tossing the title a lifeline saving it from going out of business.

So why haven’t readers received their October/November issue? It was due out in mid-October and—nada. In an e-mail sent to readers Thursday, Darwin explained what happened:

To help shore up our business for 2010 and beyond, More...

On Wednesday, Purpose Driven Connection—the quarterly published in partnership between Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren and the Reader’s Digest Association—became the latest magazine casualty of 2009 as the groups decided to move the product online-only. Until September, RDA said the title, which launched in January, was still in “development stages.” After four issues it was never green-lighted for a full launch off the newsstand.

What gives? When RDA announced the launch late last year, it billed the agreement with Warren and Saddleback More...

As part of its “Game Changers” package, the editors at the Huffington Post have come up with a list of the 10 biggest innovators in media—people or organizations that are using the Web to change the industry. Some of the more well-known names on the list include CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Katie Couric for launching Web-based interview program @katiecouric, and Tina Brown for transitioning from print to online for launching The Daily Beast.

Visitors can More...

I was thumbing through the November issue of Wired recently when I stumbled across an article on Demand Media, penned by senior writer Daniel Roth (one of my favorite Wired writers). It’s a detailed look at how the online network has successfully leveraged a user-generated content model and become the largest supplier of videos to YouTube. According to the report, Demand rakes in roughly $200 million a year and was valued in a recent round of financing at $1 billion.

Demand is reported More...

In this down economy, it isn’t any big surprise that automotive and financial have been two of the hardest-hit markets. Out of the 12 advertising categories tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau, they saw the steepest declines through the first nine months, with ad pages falling 47.3 percent and 47 percent, respectively.

Another industry that’s taken a beating this year is boating. I was reading the editor’s note yesterday on boating trade publication Soundings Trade Only’s Web site, written by Bill Siss More...

In his memo to staffers announcing the closure of Gourmet, Cookie, Elegant Bride and Modern Bride, CEO Chuck Townsend said that workforce reductions were “underway throughout the company.” He wasn’t lying. What he didn't mention was that the cuts would be made at a painfully slow pace.

The first to be let go, of course, were those employees who worked at the affected magazines. But then came news that its surviving bridal title Brides reduced its workforce by 12 people. Before the week was done, Condé Nast More...

It’s that time of year again. That’s right—turkey time.

I sat down at my desk this afternoon and began opening the stacks of magazines that are delivered here to the FOLIO: office daily. First on the pile was Condé Nast’s Bon Appetit, with a delicious-looking turkey resting gently in a roasting pan on the cover. Next came the herb-crusted masterpiece on the cover of American Express Publishing’s Food & Wine. Then I unwrapped the new issue of Martha Stewart Living, with its “simple and sensational” bird with glazed carrots and roasted vegetables, accompanied by a sweet potato casserole.

OK, I can’t go on. I’m More...