THE FOOD PARADE: Another food magazine is in the works — this time between Condé Nast and Parade, the weekly supplement that runs in more than 470 newspapers across the country and which also is owned by Condé Nast parent Advance Publications. “We are in the final stages of going through the process to decide if we will do it,” said Parade chief executive officer Jack Haire. He added a potential partnership with Condé Nast’s food brands — Bon Appetit and Gourmet — hasn’t been determined. A decision on how to proceed, or not, with the new food title is expected in the next week or so. If it does get the green light, the title would be the first launch since Carol Smith, vice president and publishing director of Bon Appetit and the Gourmet brand, came on board. Smith was hired from Elle to build Condé Nast’s food profile.
— Amy Wicks
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ALL THE RAGE: A wave of raids is going on between magazine companies these days — and now Architectural Digest could join the mix. As the search goes on for a successor to longtime editor in chief Paige Rense Noland at the title, speculation is focusing on Elle Decor editor in chief Margaret Russell as a front-runner. If Russell makes the jump, it would mark the second big poaching Condé Nast brass has made on Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in recent months (see Carol Smith, above). Behind the scenes, designers have been pondering the future of Elle Decor, although it’s having a good year with ad pages up 15.5 percent year to date, according to Media Industry Newsletter.
In the latest poachings on the media circuit, Real Simple has tapped Didi Gluck, executive beauty director at Shape, as its new beauty and health director and the Time Inc. title has also named Abbey Kuster-Prokell, deputy design director at Martha Stewart Living, as art director.
But not every empty job in media is being filled by a company outsider. Self said Wednesday that Laura McEwen, publisher of Condé title Teen Vogue, will become its next publisher, succeeding Kim Kelleher, who is moving to Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated Group as vice president global sales. Sources said Marcy Bloom, associate publisher at GQ, had also been gunning for the job. A spokeswoman said a successor for McEwen at Teen Vogue has not been named.
— Amy Wicks
BETTER KNOW YOUR READER: Arianna Huffington has an idea of what consumers will pay for online and it’s not general news content. The Huffington Post founder explained to the crowd at I Want Media’s Future of Media panel on Tuesday afternoon that people are only willing to shell out for specified subject matter online. Financial data, she said for example or, “very weird porn.” Fellow panelist Dan Abrams couldn’t contain a smile as he made sure the audience at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute heard Huffington. “You just said weird porn,” the NBC personality and Mediaite publisher said. “The accent sometimes…how weird porn, Arianna?” inquired Glamour editor in chief Cindi Leive. Huffington declined to satisfy everyone’s curiosity, but did quash recent rumors that Yahoo would be buying her site. Yahoo Media vice president James Pitaro, who sat a few chairs away from Huffington on the panel, declined to comment.
— Matthew Lynch
CUTS AT RDA: More layoffs are coming to Reader’s Digest Association. Following the recent departures of Eva Dillon and Alyce Alston, staffers are bracing for a 10 percent reduction in head count across most company departments. A spokesman declined to comment on specific personnel, but apparently Dillon’s former number two, Elaine Alimonti, vice president of marketing, was let go by Dan Lagani, the newly appointed president of RD Media.
— A.W.