Keith Crain
Chairman, Crain Communications
Keith Crain is the man behind one of the most storied publishing brands in America.It’s been a very big year for Crain. Back in July, he became the sole owner of his family’s 101-year-old business, Crain Communications, which owns 22 domestic and international publications and reportedly brought in $221 million in revenue 2016. Headquartered in Detroit, the company has 880 employees in 13 locations, and delivers content across platforms. Though print remains a challenge, Crain is prepared to pivot. “We don’t tell the reader how he wants his information,” he told The New York Post in August 2017. “Readers tell us — print, digital, events, TV, on a wristwatch — they tell us.”
Clara Jeffery
Editor-in-chief, Mother Jones
Clara Jeffery is the editor-in-chief of Mother Jones, the political magazine and accompanying website that was named Magazine of the Year at the 2017 National Magazine Awards.Jeffery is editor-in-chief of Mother Jones, a magazine focused on news, politics, commentary, and investigative reporting. Under Jeffery’s leadership, the magazine was named the 2017 Magazine of the Year by the American Society of Magazine Editors. From November through January of last year, the publication’s number of small donations increased by 160 percent year-over-year, donors who signed up for recurring monthly payments tripled in revenue, and web traffic increased by 72 percent in January. In total, the publication saw $13.5 million in revenue last year under Jeffery’s management.
Bob Love
Editor-in-chief, AARP The Magazine
Bob Love, whose magazine-editorial resume has few rivals, now helps oversee a team bringing new life to America’s most widely-read print magazine.A veteran journalist with remarkable insights into the craft and his audience, Bob Love has been an editor-in-chief of AARP The Magazine since 2013, and previously spent 20 years as managing editor at Rolling Stone in addition to roles at Playboy, New York, Reader’s Digest, The Week, and several others. His career credits speak for themselves, but his colleagues – both former and current – are never reluctant to speak to Bob’s willingness to share his wisdom and expertise with others.
Bob Mankoff
Cartoon and Humor Editor, Esquire
After 40 years with The New Yorker, legendary cartoonist Bob Mankoff has a new gig.In 1977, Bob Mankoff sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker, and within three years he became a regular contributor to the magazine. In 1997, he was named cartoon editor of The New Yorker, replacing Lee Lorenz. Mankoff has edited multiple volumes of cartoon collections, including “The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker.” More than nine hundred of Mankoff’s cartoons have been published in The New Yorker, including some of the most popular New Yorker cartoons of all time.
Earlier this year he stepped down at The New Yorker and joined Esquire—immediately after being hired he published a viral cartoon that was an not-so-subtle farewell directed towards TNY, in the form of famed mascot Eustace Tilley.
Francoise Mouly
Art Editor, The New Yorker
Francoise Mouly has displayed little weariness after 25 years as The New Yorker’s art editor, regularly conceiving cover concepts that provoke national conversations.Françoise Mouly has been art editor of The New Yorker since 1993 and is the publisher and editorial director of Toon Books. Over her tenure at The New Yorker, Mouly has been responsible for over 1,000 covers, several of which have been among the most memorable produced by any magazine over the past two decades.
In 2014, Mouly and Toon Books launched Toon Graphics, a line of comics for ages eight and up, which include “Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure” — the book chosen to represent New York State at the 2016 National Book Festival.
David Pecker
Chairman and CEO, American Media Inc.
As the Chairman and CEO of American Media Inc., David Pecker is the publisher of National Enquirer, Us Weekly, Star, Sun, Weekly World News, Globe, and Men’s Fitness, among others.Earlier this year, Wenner Media’s Us Weekly was purchased by David Pecker’s American Media Inc. in a highly-publicized deal. The massive shakeup made more headlines than it probably should have for the simple fact that Pecker, with the ear of millions of Americans, has been an outspoken supporter of President Trump in a media landscape with few conservatives. The deal allows AMI to consolidate the print market for store checkout stand publications. As much as he may cause consternation for his counterparts in the publishing sphere, Pecker’s influence on the media landscape cannot be denied.
D.W. Pine
Design Director, Time
Time’s design director has provided the creative vision behind some of the most memorable magazine covers in the 21st century.As design director at Time, D.W. Pine has been responsible for developing some of the most talked about covers in magazine media, including the now-famous Trump meltdown covers in 2016 and the Kremlin/White House cover in early 2017.
In addition to his covers, Pine currently directs design for Time’s annual Person of the Year, the TIME 100 cover packages, and oversees the design of each weekly issue. He has designed several Time book projects, including one commemorating Barack Obama’s inauguration, and directed and contributed to the The Final Four of Everything by Mark Reiter and Richard Sandomir. Pine also oversees Time’s design and editorial direction on the iPad.
Print Magazines
Despite years of contraction and hostile market forces, the beleaguered medium continues to find its niche.
Abe Vigoda notwithstanding, few have been prematurely eulogized more than print magazines. We’ve all heard the wisdom: kids aren’t reading them, shoppers aren’t buying them, brands aren’t advertising in them, waiting-room patients aren’t picking them up. And yet, nearly a decade removed from the Great Recession, print magazines are not only still here, indications are they’re actually making a modest comeback (about 1.5 percent more brands produced a print magazine in 2016 than in 2009, according to the MPA).
Magazine-media will likely never return to the days of gaudy subscriber bases and gaudier expense accounts, but evolution does not necessarily precede elimination. The enduring vitality of so many print magazines is a testament to the brilliant publishers, editors, designers, marketers, and salespeople who have recognized the need for a new type of product, and found audiences more than willing to meet them halfway.
Marvin Shanken
Founder, M. Shanken Communications
Four decades later, the lifestyle publishing pioneer continues to build out his empire.Through his company’s flagship titles, Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado, Marvin Shanken has spent the better part of his career building two brands that not only serve as the publications of record in their respective industries, but at times seem even to dictate the very courses those markets take.
An old-school publisher thriving in the digital era, Shanken has adapted his brands to the modern market, launching email newsletters, mobile apps, an event business, a deep digital archive of thousands of reviews, all under the principle that the implicit trust of the consumer is the company’s most valuable commodity. Perhaps most impressive, Wine Spectator’s 40th anniversary issue, in 2016, was the second-largest issue in the magazine’s history.
Liz Vaccariello
Editor-in-chief, Meredith Parents Network
Liz Vaccariello was brought in to rethink Meredith’s Parents Network, and is making an impact with a complete overhaul of all the group’s brands.Vaccariello is leading the editorial operation for Meredith Parents Network. Before joining Meredith in mid-November 2016, she was chief content officer and editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest. There, she led a print and digital refresh of the brand. After the January 2013 re-launch of Reader’s Digest, newsstand sales for the title jumped 16.1 percent year-over-year. Now, her vision at Meredith is taking shape: The September 2017 issue of the 90-year-old Parents magazine showed off a redesign that featured a new look and navigational experience, and a new strategy that incorporates celebrity personalities and more lifestyle-focused content for Millennial moms.
