The top editor of Martha Stewart's flagship magazine has been bounced as part of a restructuring designed to cope with rapidly declining advertising revenue.
Michael Boodro confirmed yesterday that he is leaving Martha Stewart Living magazine nearly two years to the day since he arrived from LTB Media to replace Margaret Roach.
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As a longtime MSL subscriber (and someone who works in publishing), I strenuously disagree with those who say Boodro wasn't, to a significant degree, to blame for the magazine's current situation. As soon as he took over, the magazine's voice changed, favoring a matronly aesthetic and clunky, text-heavy layouts (including his editor's letters, which sometimes stretched to two pages). All that worked together to successfully prevent any younger Blueprint subscribers from coming back into the MSLO fold and also alienating not only potential readers but also people like me and others I know who'd subscribed to the mag for 10+ years. Boodro was never the right fit, and MSLO could have easily stanched the bleeding had they cut him loose sooner. With a smart editor, MSL can be well-positioned to snap up orphaned readers of other mags, like Domino and ReadyMade.
How sad our economy is.
Was just notified that one of my fav magazines, Cottage Living, is folding as well as numerous catalog mailers...i.e., Williams=Sonoma for one. Martha's mag is still hanging in there. A good one too.
I just ponied up about $50 on 4 magazine subscriptions. They went for $19.95 for 12 mos of MSLiving which incl; extra stuff like a decorating issue, gardening issue , a tote and an issue of FOOD. Averaged out to about $1.30 a copy w/cover price $4.99...and I would buy about 4 issues a year off the newstand at full price...so it was a deal for me.
I love MS....Her mag always teaches me something and the recipe cards are great. I'm sorry if so many of you don't like her but I've been a fan for years. Many are offended because they perceive her as a know it all...well frankly she is and i happen to like and admire smart people and she is one smart lady
They need to show the advertisers the numbers or they can't sell the ads....they never made the money off the mags anyway.
Help the economy ... SUBSCRIBE to a magazine!
Although MS is a known felon and served her time, I do enjoy reading her magazines. Her TV show, NOT.
the handwriting is on the wall for all magazines. Nobody is buying them. And could it be that maybe , just maybe people are tired of Martha--time for her to come up with a new angle. Living? That magazine is DOA-----thnk Martha
The problem most magazines are facing is not that "nobody is buying them." The problem is loss of revenue from fewer advertisements. Mags and newspapers don't rely on circulation for their main revenue. They depend on ads, and fewer companies are buying print (or Web, for that matter) ads. This has been the downward trend for several years now. Circulation numbers are not off by that much at most mags.
And firing the editor seldom fixes the problem.
It's normal downsizing in a bad economy.
I lost my job at a medical magazine for the same reasons. Smaller staff, less salaries paid. The only problem is that the smaller staff has to pick up the slack from those who have been let go...
Firing the Editor is a unique "first step" in trying to fix an revenue problem....I'll be its something else.
save her mags, and use for wallpaper to decorate your next house (cardboard appliance box)
I don't buy her magazines because they are indeed just all ads.
Save your old copies to make greeting cards in the coming lean years.
"The Seattle Post Inteligencer", a leftist newspaper in Seattle in going under. They stop printing in the middle of March. It's been one continuous newspaper for 144 years. This is the paper Bill O'Rielly called, "the worst newspaper in America"....consider the source and you will know how good it is.
The website is www.settlepi.com Look at the opinion page. So sad to think of a world without newpapers. I think their website brought them down because it too is so good.
Link doesn't work. Here's the right one: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
LOLOLO!!! LOLOLOLO!!!!
Anybody who thinks that magazine's problems are Mr. Boodro's fault needs their head examined. Perhaps his contract with the magazine was more than they could afford to pay at the moment, but his editing has nothing to do with the failure of Martha Stewart Living to attract ad revenue. EVERYONE's having trouble attracting ad revenue.
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New York Post | KEITH J. KELLY | January 31, 2009 01:20 PM