An Exodus At 'Worth' Magazine

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Oct 1, 2002

Byline: Susan Thea Posnock

In the last several months, Worth magazine has been losing more than ad pages. Since April, seven top staffers have fled the publication, including editor-in-chief John Koten and publisher Jim McCabe. One former staffer blames the exodus on the bad economy and budget constraints, saying the independent publisher is struggling to make ends meet. But CEO Randy Jones is reportedly exerting more control over the edit, and this, according to some, is the reason people are jumping ship. Koten, who says he remains on good terms with Jones, still likens the end of his six-year stint to a "divorce." He says Jones wanted his full vision in the magazine, so there wasn't enough room on the masthead for both of them. "Like any two people with strong personalities, we had ideas about how things should go and what the magazine should focus on," Koten explains. "The conclusion was that the best thing was to have a singular focus. Randy had a lot of ideas of what the magazine could be and should be. He has a chance to make Worth into his magazine from top to bottom."

ADVERTISING & SALES

Mark Oltarsh to ad director, Stuff magazine, from sales development director, Vanity Fair.

Tracey Rivera to national advertising sales director, Latina. Previously, she served as the national advertising sales director for Galavision Cable Network.

Anthony Cenname to New York advertising director, Travel Leisure, from fashion advertising director.

Maxim magazine announced two additions to its sales staff: Molly Ballantine has been named western director. Most recently she served as west coast director for Spin and Vibe. Timothy Baldwin was named Detroit manager, in charge of automotive advertising. Most recently he served as Detroit advertising manager for Blender.

Richard Burish to midwest regional manager, Red Herring Communications, from midwest regional manager, Smart Business.

David K. Manchee to southwest sales manager, Budget Living. Manchee is founder and president of MancheeMedia.

CIRCULATION

Dawn Zier to vice president and circulation director, Reader's Digest Association. She was vice president of circulation marketing for the company.

CORPORATE

Stephen D. Moylan to executive vice president of Ziff Davis Media's Enterprise Group. Moylan will also continue in his role of overseeing corporate sales and marketing, research.

Jerry Okabe to vice president, member relations, of BPA International, Business of Performing Audits. Most recently, Okabe served as PBI Media's vice president of circulation and news & information services.

EDITORIAL & ART

Rebecca Poynor Burns to editor-in-chief, Atlanta magazine, from editor-in-chief, Indianapolis Monthly.

Larry Platt to editor-in-chief, Philadelphia, from editor-at-large.

Jeremy Langmead to editor, Wallpaper magazine. Langmead was an editor at the Evening Standard in London.

Roberta Caploe was named executive editor at Ladies' Home Journal. Previously, she was editor-in-chief for the Youth Entertainment Group at Primedia. Scott Yardley was name creative director of LHJ. Previously, Yardley had served in various art director positions for titles including Good Housekeeping, and Redbook.

Former "Politically Incorrect" host Bill Maher was named a contributing editor for Details. He'll write a monthly column, beginning with the October issue.

MANAGEMENT

Tim Castelli to vice president and publisher, PC Magazine, from publisher.

Michael Zivyak to associate publisher, Spin. Most recently, he was associate publisher of Yahoo! Internet Life.

Alan Stiles to associate publisher, Seed magazine. Previously, he was publisher of Esquire.

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Sara Barnard to vice president, marketing, Red Herring Communications, from director of sales development.

Margot Brunelle to executive director, creative services, Lucky. She was promoted from creative services director.

Amy Newman to marketing director, Maxim, from president of triP Entertainment, a marketing and public relations firm.

Nathan Misner to the new position of marketing director for Book magazine. Most recently, he co-founded Iced Media, an advertising and marketing firm.

Paul Kramer to marketing director, T&L Golf. Previously, Kramer was founder and president of Great Golf Events, a golf event management company.

Kerri Fox to creative services director, Shape magazine. Previously, Fox was vice president, marketing, for the Modern Bride Group.

Karen Mayal to consumer marketing manager, Latina, from circulation business manager, This Old House magazine.

BIG DOGS WAITING

INDUSTRY PLAYERS CURRENTLY ON THE SIDELINES