magazines

Condé Nast Can't Win

cityfile · 12/21/09 03:23PM

This hasn't been an easy year for Condé Nast (or any magazine publisher for that matter). But the company now has a bit more bad news to contend with in the form of a hacker who gained access to Condé's network this fall and swiped 1,100 files from GQ, Vogue, Teen Vogue, and Lucky, a number of which were later posted online. Condé isn't sure who was responsible for the breach, although it's since managed to get several of the sites that posted the files—a list that includes five alternate covers for GQ's December issue—to take them down. (One of the blogs that posted some of the offending content, fashionzag.blogspot.com, still has thumbnails of the five covers posted, although the links to the larger images no longer work.) Even more concerning, though, is that Condé Nast reports the hacker continues to have access to its network, and it can't guarantee more material won't be posted on the Web in the future. The company filed a copyright lawsuit against the unknown hacker(s) last week; the suit appears after the jump.

cityfile · 12/15/09 04:16PM

• Closures: Design magazine I.D. is shutting down. And while Editor & Publisher revealed last week it's folding, there's now a small chance it'll survive. [E&P]
• More bad news: The New Republic laid off some staff today. [Politico]
Diane Sawyer's farewell to GMA last week and George Stephanopoulos's debut on Monday both did okay, but neither one topped Today. [NYO, NYT]
• More TV news: CNN's ratings continue to suck; Oprah's Obama special scored big ratings; and Oprah pal Nate Berkus is getting his own show, as rumored.
Golf Digest says it has no regrets about its new Tiger Woods cover. Which is a tad convenient since it went to press before the scandal broke. [Us]
Men's Health editor Dave Zinczenko got snubbed by his bosses today. [DF]
• Paramount plans to start selling movie clips on the Web next week. [NYT]
• As for plans to create the "Hulu of magazines," it isn't going to be easy. [PC]
• The guy who stalked ESPN's Erin Andrews pleaded guilty today. [AP]
• Advertisers are totally loving Lady Gaga right now. Her "Bad Romance" video managed to squeeze in ten product placements in under five minutes. [LAT]
• Golden Globe noms were announced today. Just in case you missed it. [NYM]

I.D. Magazine Folding

John Cook · 12/15/09 03:11PM

According to Fast Company, F+W Media is shuttering I.D., the venerable design magazine. There's a sad logic to it, since half of I.D.'s readership consisted of magazine art directors, most of whom have been laid off.

Big Ski Threatens Snow-Based Media Freedom!

Hamilton Nolan · 12/15/09 01:56PM

In your tricky Tuesday media column: Ski Resorts are the Stasi of Colorado journalism, the White House press corps exercises its shit-eating grin, The New Yorker cuts its fiction, and a dead magazine overview.

cityfile · 12/11/09 03:22PM

• The New York Times is gearing up to cut another two dozen positions at the newspaper, but that's fewer than NYT execs were anticipating. [NYP]
• Cancellations: MTV has pulled the plug on Alexa Chung's daytime show; and HBO's Flight of the Conchords is finished after two seasons. [THR, Variety]
Diane Sawyer and Chris Cuomo bid goodbye to GMA this morning. [ABC]
• NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker, who will remain in charge of NBC after Comcast takes control, has been signed up to a new three-year contract. [THR]
• Ex-Daily News editor Debby Krenek is Newsday's new editor-in-chief. [E&P]
• Stodgy Harvard Business Review is getting a sexy makeover! [NYT]
• Grim stat du jour: 367 magazines were shuttered in 2009. [Crain's]
• More on Dave Zinczenko, the laziest magazine editor alive. [Gawker, DF]

Emergency at Vanity Fair!

Hamilton Nolan · 12/10/09 04:10PM

A tipster emailed the Vanity Fair customer service department this week because his magazine stopped being delivered. He received an alarming response!

Editorial Shakeup at Ad Age

Hamilton Nolan · 12/10/09 01:48PM

In your frigid Thursday media column: Editorial turnover at Ad Age, Mediaite invites people more famous and attractive than you to their soiree, journalists prepare to forage, and Sarah Palin's only a few steps from the 99-cent store.