That was The Talk of the Town last week, after the surprise announcement that Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown will take over The New Yorker in the fall. Changes at the top of magazines normally produce anxiety only among staffers directly involved. But the Brown-New Yorker merger is different. Although they’re both owned by publishing magnate S. I. Newhouse, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker represent opposite poles of the magazine world. Under Brown, who took over in 1984, Vanity Fair became the most talked-about magazine around, and the envy of virtually every editor in Manhattan. Circulation nearly quadrupled, to about a million. Typical stories from this month’s issue: a gushy profile of hunk-of-the-moment Luke Perry, star of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” and a piece on the marketing of Rodney King. The New Yorker, founded in 1925, is literary and intellectual, the most prestigious name in print. The July 6 issue has a look at the internal politics of Time Warner and a campaign treatise from Elizabeth Drew, along with the trademark fiction and cartoons.
Vanity Fair’s successful formula probably won’t alter after Brown departs. Her successor, E. Graydon Carter, cofounder of the satirical monthly Spy, says, " This is not a broken magazine." (However, he might not get the same cooperation from Hollywood that Brown did; Spy skewered many big names, and they have long memories.) At The New Yorker, staffer know what to expect. Brown replaces Robert Gottlieb, who resigned, according to the official press release, over “conceptual differences” in the magazine’s directionwhich may be code words for not enough sweeping change. Brown has made a career of revamping failing magazines. Before reviving the moribund Vanity Fair, she overhauled the British magazine Tatler, boosting circulation 300 percent in four years.
Brown admits that she’s an “unexpected choice” for The New Yorker, but she couldn’t turn the job down. “In the end, Ifelt this was the most creative challenge in publishing, to be entrusted with a magazine of such quality.” The money probably didn’t hurt. At Vanity Fair, she was reported to be making more than $300,000; nobody thinks she took a pay cut. Although her magazine won many awards, Brown has earned even more publicity for her outrageous acts, like last summer’s cover of a nude and pregnant Demi Moore. And she has taken flak for fawning profiles of celebrities, including such big advertisers as Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. Vanity Fair, she insists, is not just another pretty face. It’s the serious pieces, says Brown, that actually sell the magazine. In 1990, for example, the magazine won the National Magazine Award, the top honor in magazine journalism, for William Styron’s story on his battle with clinical depression.
While Vanity Fair thrived in the ’80s, The New Yorker had a tougher time. Its core readership is relatively old (average age: 44), a turnoff for advertisers. Five years ago, Newhouse fired legendary editor William Shawn, who had run the magazine since 1952, and hired Gottlieb, then head of publishing house Alfred A. Knopf (also owned by Newhouse). The staff protested vehemently. As editor, however, Gottlieb honored most of the magazine’s traditions-including running interminable stories on some obscurata or anotherand won a handful of National Magazine Awards. His major reform–by the standards of The New Yorker–was modifying the listing of events to include minifeatures and commentaries. Circulation is a record 627,263; still, there are rsistent and troubling rumors of a $10 million loss. Steve Florio, president and CEO, denies any red ink: " If it were true, they couldn’t be looking for a new editor. They’d be looking for a new president." Brown’s challenge is to maintain The New Yorker’s famously loyal readership while making changes that Madison Avenue will applaud.
Unlike Shawn, Gottlieb wasn’t fired but the shift was dramatic. About a month ago, he told Newhouse that he had made all the changes he could and would leave in the fall. It’s rumored that the changes he could not make included firings, which Florio denies. Gottlieb’s resignation was supposed to be secret for another two weeks. But there were leaks, and on Monday, a reporter from The Wall Street Journal called around for confirmation. Newhouse decided to “go public” early; the news was announced to both staffs at twin meetings the next day.
At Vanity Fair, Brown addressed a crowd that included many of her star writers. “There wasn’t a smile in the place,” says Gail Sheehy. “Everyone looked wan,as if the air had gone out of them. When she finished speaking, there was a very long, sustained applause.” At The New Yorker, staffers were in shock. “Nobody saw this coming,” says deputy editor Charles McGrath. When the news broke, one writer said the place was “funereal,” as much over the loss of Gottlieb as the uncertainty about Brown. “When Bob took over, he made changes in a landscape,” says writer Janet Malcolm. “This feels like we’re moving to another continent.”
Brown, the first woman to head the magazine, isn’t talking specifics, but she insists she won’t hurt The New Yorker’s integrity. “I’m not going to turn it into a picture book,” she says. “It’s a text-driven magazine.” She says she admires much of the current staff, but adds, “I think there will be new blood in there.” First on the list are two Vanity Fair veterans, editor Kim Heron and critic Stephen Schiff; managing editor Pamela Maffei McCarthy is also expected to join up. Brown’s outside hires will be the first signal of her future direction. Late last week, she had breakfast with Wall Street Journal editor James B. Stewart, a Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the best-selling “Den of Thieves.” Stewart wouldn’t comment. “I already have one of the best jobs in American journalism,” he says. Almost as good as Brown’s.
Conde Nast founds Vanity Fair, installs Frank Crowninshield (left) as editor and publishes D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Wolfe, Dorothy Parker and T.S. Eliot. The magazine folds in 1936.
The New Yorker is born under the editorship of Harold Ross. Early stars include E.B. White, James Thurber and John O’Hara. Ross says he isn’t editing a magazine for “the old lady in Dubuque.”
William Shawn takes over The New Yorker. The magazine becomes famous for long nonfiction articles on important issues. Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” is published in June 1962.
The New Yorker runs Jonathan Schell’s “The Fate of the Earth.” The magazine, still a mix of gentle whimsy and important reportage, becomes known for turgid, often boring articles.
Tina Brown becomes editor of the new Vanity Fair, revived in 1983. Circulation nearly quadruples in sight years, from 265,000 to about a million. Brown calls her magazine “sort of an intellectual MTV.”
S. I. Newhouse Jr. buys The New Yorker for $142 million. At the time, he vows that he will not interfere with editorial independence.
Robert Gottlieb takes over The New Yorker. He makes small changes: mini-reviews and short commentaries in the front listings sections, for example. But he avoids any massive overhaul.
Babe with babe. Tina Brown’s most famous cover at Vanity Fair featured a nude and pregnant Demi Moore. The actress is cover girl next month as well, still naked but with a painted-on suit.
Graydon Carter, cofounder of Spy, succeeds Brown as editor of Vanity Fair. Spy’s skewering of Hollywood has not made him a favorite there; he’ll need new friends to keep stars on the cover.
