Monday, November 16, 2009

Media Roundup: Guest Editors, Clueless Owners, & More

The latest from the worlds of media:
  • A while ago, I shared my thoughts on why guest editors of magazines are a silly gimmick we would be better off without. Obviously, my tremendous influence throughout the magazine publishing industry has resulted in ... yet more guest editors. Will Young will be guest editing an issue of Attitude, a gay lifestyle magazine. And a recent issue of the UK edition of Esquire has no less than four guest editors (including Ricky Gervais)
  • The news about Playboy Enterprise's possible sale to one of two potential buyers has stirred the usual excitement in the media, though the Chicago Tribune's Greg Burns asks why, considering the company's rather poor performance. I was also surprised to read a number of lame articles, such as Reuters' report, which reads more like a canned obituary than a report on a pending company sale. That might be expected, considering the paucity of information available about the sale options, both of which would take the public company private, with as-yet-unspecified effect on the magazine. Still, don't these people have sources?
  • The former managing editor of Playgirl has a behind-the-scenes take on what went wrong at that magazine and why she's ... well, annoyed, it seems to me, by the current talk about a revival of the print magazine, led by the modeling of Levi Johnston. She puts a lot of the blame on the corporate sex-industry owners of the magazine, saying they understood neither how to market to women nor to gay men.
  • And, finally, proof I wasn't lying about that 300-year-old magazine.

My previous media roundup.

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