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AARP The Magazine +1
Katie Couric 0
The Star -1
Of note: the confluence of forces at work behind a gossip item in today’s New York Times on Katie Couric’s debut as a “senior citizen” gracing the cover of AARP The Magazine.
The huge-circulation monthly, formerly known as Modern Maturity, has for years taken great pains - arthritic no doubt — to recast itself as a younger, hipper read. Having a perky 48-year-old on the cover clearly accrues to this end. (AARP: +1)
Speaking of that perky, 48-year-old, she too is trying to recast herself as a kinder, gentler soul after getting skewered in a prominent New York Times piece six months ago, which likely has prompted its own public relations strategy to undo the damage. On that front, her handlers’ choice of the benign AARP The Magazine to rebuild her image is a reasonable one indeed. (Katie: +1)
Finally, in the same gossip item, Ms. Couric totally snubs a reporter when she learns he is from The Star, which is a part of David Pecker’s American Media stable of breathless publications. (Katie: -1) Star also has been trying to recast itself in a more legitimate, less-tabloidish light as its single-copy competitors People, Us and In Touch. Obviously, it’s not there yet. (Star: -1)
Posted in People, Katie Couric, Media, American Media, David Pecker | No Comments »
Posted by Peter Himler on 12th August 2005
When will it ever end? Granted, the editorial thrust of some of American Media’s publications, e.g., Weekly World News and The National Enquirer, leaves the door open for controversy and litigation. But nary a week goes by without some unsavory AMI headline hitting the mainstream media. (Think Anthrax, Ugliest Person list, Bonnie Fuller, Arnold, etc.)
Today’s L.A. Times reports on hush money paid by AMI to a woman who had an affair with the future Governor of California. At the time, the company was negotiating with Mr. Schwarzenegger to become a paid consultant to its stable of muscle/fitness mags - a business relationship that exploded in the media last month.
As a PR guy, I have considerable empathy for the company’s in-house mouthpiece Stu Zakim. Stu, so much for having a restful summer!
My prediction: the new revelations about AMI CEO David Pecker’s relationship with The Terminator’s relationship may very well lead to his own termination.
Posted in American Media, David Pecker, Arnold Schwarznegger | No Comments »
Posted by Peter Himler on 14th July 2005
As if the folks at American Media didn’t have their share of problems, now this. Earlier this week I wrote about how AMI-owned tabloid Weekly World News published an ill-conceived story naming the “ten ugliest people.” One of those named was a police officer who acquired his “ugliness” from first-degree burns in a rescue operation. The magazine apologized, and the editors were fired.
Now we read that California’s once pumped up Governor is on the dole through ad sales from another AMI-owned pub, Muscle & Fitness, to the tune of $1 million a year. From a PR perspective, this poses a greater problem for the leader of the nation’s most populous state than it does for AMI, unless of course you consider who M&F’s advertisers are.
Posted in American Media | No Comments »
