Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Corporate Male Supremacy At Newhouse/`Vogue'/Conde' Nast In 1990s

(The following article first appeared in the 11/18/92 issue of the now-defunct Lower East Side alternative newspaper Downtown)

Patterns of Corporate Male Supremacy within the Newhouse/Vogue/Conde’ Nast operation in the early 1990s were manifested in ways other than in the Newhouse media conglomerate’s practice of then allowing just one man to be the editorial director of all of its women-oriented magazines. At Vogue in the early 1990s, its creative director was a corporate man named Andre’ Leon Talley, its art director was a corporate man named Raul Martinez and its feature editor was a corporate man named Michael Boodro. Vogue’s travel editor, its editor-at-large, its associate art director, its editorial/art production manager and its editorial business manager in the early 1990s were also corporate men. At least one senior editor and six contributing editors at Vogue in the early 1990s were also still corporate men. In addition, a corporate man named Norman Waterman was also Vogue’s associate publisher and a corporate man named Edward Meniecheschi was Vogue’s director of merchandising in the early 1990s.

At Glamour in the early 1990s, its senior associate art director was a corporate man named Neil Phiefer, its publisher was a corporate man named Jack Kliger and its advertising director was a corporate man named William Abbott. Self’s articles editor in the early 1990s was also a corporate man named John Stickney and its publisher was a corporate man named Lawrence Burstein. Three of Self’s contributing editors were also corporate men in the early 1990s.

At the higher levels of the Newhouse media conglomerate’s Conde’ Nast Publications subsidiary, the top executive positions at its then-350 Madison Avenue offices in Midtown Manhattan were also monopolized by corporate men in the early 1990s. The chairman, the deputy chairman, the president, three of the four executive vice-presidents, the five vice-presidents and the director of advertising production of the Newhouse subsidiary which markets Vogue, Glamour, Self and Allure to women readers were all still corporate men as late as the early 1990s. And a corporate man named Leo Lerman was an editorial adviser at Vogue, Glamour and Self, simultaneously, in the early 1990s.

(Downtown 11/18/92)