Mr. Magazine

“They’re still getting a lot of information from a lot of places and when you’re talking about print in particular, we’re kind of tuning out the noise for them. And so they come to print to really get a more curated experience and to find out things that they may not be getting on social media or from their friends. We’re this big sister that’s there for them. The things that we cover in the magazine and online are sometimes similar and sometimes different. There are still things in the magazine that are there for them. And who doesn’t want to see themselves in print, let’s be honest. It’s very special.” Joey Bartolomeo…

“As an extension, we’re all one brand. We have the same goals, but on different platforms we’re able to talk to them in different ways, we’re able to react to different kinds of events in different ways. Where the magazine might be able to profile and give more in depth and give the stories that readers really want to relish and spend time in; on social media we can cover the stuff in real time and we can also highlight teens on social media as well as in the magazine. You’re always going to see young people on our pages; you’re always going to see them on our feeds. We’re tackling many of the same issues, we’re just doing them in different ways that make sense for that platform and that audience.” Kristin Koch…

For 74 years, Seventeen magazine has been the go-to resource for teens and young people, inspiring confidence and self-awareness throughout its pages. Support for activism and causes that are important to teens has always been a part of the brand’s DNA and after almost three-quarters of a century that hasn’t changed. In fact, on March 24, the brand chartered a bus to take 30 New York City teen activists from organizations like Girl Up, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and IGNITE – who would otherwise not be able to participate – to the march in Washington, D.C.

At the march, Seventeen hosted a GIF video booth on Pennsylvania Avenue that encouraged participants to post a message on why they were marching, which they could share on social media. For every GIF posted from the booth, Seventeen’s parent company, Hearst, promised to donate $1 to Everytown for Gun Safety. The teens all posed in front of the Hearst building before setting off for Washington, D.C. and continued the photo story once they arrived. It was lots of pictures, lots of camaraderie, and lots of standing up for their cause.

Seventeen extensively covered the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, and has been a platform to inform teens and share teen perspectives around ending gun violence. The bus charter was a physical extension of that platform – giving young people an opportunity to participate in a movement that affects their lives, and creating an activist alliance for girls who want to make a difference.

Joey Bartolomeo is executive editor and Kristin Koch is digital director of Seventeen. I spoke with both recently and we talked about the avidly active stance the brand has on standing by teens and what’s important to them. From the brand’s participation in The March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. to its “Perfectly Me” initiative, which promotes body confidence in teens, Seventeen is ready to tackle the issues right alongside its readers. Joey and Kristin are mothers of young children as well, and are as passionate about the rights of teens as their brand is. It was a vibrant conversation about accepting who we are and encouraging and supporting those that stand up for their rights.

So, I hope that you enjoy this look into the world of teens and all they hold dear enough to stand up for, and their right to do so, the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Joey Bartolomeo, executive editor and Kristin Koch, digital director, Seventeen magazine.

But first the sound-bites:

Kristin Koch

On the status of the Seventeen brand audience today (Kristin Koch): Our audience is incredibly powerful. Social media has enabled them to activate in new ways. In addition, obviously, we’re still seeing them mobilize in real person and go to organized marches, protests and walkouts, but now they’re able to reach a larger audience. They’re able to have their voices stretch across multiple platforms using social media. They’re able to tap into celebrities; they’re able to talk to politicians; they’re able to get their voices and their messages really heard.

On why social media savvy teens today need a brand so rooted in print, such as Seventeen (Joey Bartolomeo): They’re still getting a lot of information from a lot of places and when you’re talking about print in particular, we’re kind of tuning out the noise for them. And so they come to print to really get a more curated experience and to find out things that they may not be getting on social media or from their friends. We’re this big sister that’s there for them. The things that we cover in the magazine and online are sometimes similar and sometimes different. There are still things in the magazine that are there for them. And who doesn’t want to see themselves in print, let’s be honest. It’s very special.

On the magazine being a friend with benefits, but with a PG rating (Joey Bartolomeo): I think that’s a very good way to put it. We cover topics related to sex, but we do it in such a way that we’re definitely not R-rated. We just want girls to have the information they need to make smart choices, so we’re not telling them how to have sex, we’re telling them what information they need to know about their bodies and their minds before they go and make a decision that could really affect their lives.

Group Photo in DC_Allie Holloway/Seventeen. March 24, 2018

On Seventeen’s involvement with the March for Our Lives movement in Washington, D.C. and whether we’re seeing a change in the type of content teen magazines cover (Joey Bartolomeo): These are things that Seventeen has covered from the start of the magazine. Activism, helping out different people, using your voice; so, no, I think that the idea of teens speaking up and fighting for things has been something that Seventeen has been behind for decades. Sometimes you might hear more about it in the media now, but we know that Gen Z, and those are our readers right now, they’re so into this. They’re activists, and we’ve been highlighting that for years now. And the millennials before that. So, it’s not as new as people think it is. We know that they’ve been doing this and Seventeen has been doing this for decades.

On Seventeen’s involvement with the March for Our Lives movement in Washington, D.C. and whether we’re seeing a change in the type of content teen magazines cover (Kristin Koch): Teens have always been at the helm of these movements, students advocating for change. Of course, today they have many more tools to get their voices out there. And we’re really the teens’ guide to navigating; high school and college are some of the trickiest, most confusing times in your life. We know teens are smart and savvy, but they’re still looking for guidance and they’re still looking to us for answers.

On whether Seventeen is a reflection of teens today in the United States or is it an initiator of things for teens (Joey Bartolomeo): We really let the girls lead us on a lot of things. We see what they’re interested in and what they’re fighting for. And obviously, we look around and we know what the big issues are in the world of teens. So, we really try to follow their lead. We’re not pushing an agenda on them; we see what’s important to them, whether it’s letting transgender kids in high schools use the bathroom of their choice, or getting proper sex-ed in their schools. There was one girl that we featured who was protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. These are things that are meaningful to teens and we just want to help show that if you’re a teen, maybe you can’t vote or maybe you don’t think that you have any power, but you really do and you can effect change.

On whether Seventeen is a reflection of teens today in the United States or is it an initiator of things for teens (Kristin Koch): We’re also helping to bring to light issues that really matter to them and should matter to them. And we’re making sure that they’re aware of everything that’s affecting them. And as Joey said, they may not be able to vote, but we want to make sure that they’re empowered to have access to information and to be able to know about the issues that are impacting their lives. So, we’re covering these issues and bringing them to the teens, but we’re coming to them with a perspective of what matters to them, how is this going to affect them, how can they create change as teens, not as adults.

On how easy or hard it was to become a multiplatform brand being so rooted in print (Kristin Koch): Obviously, it’s always a challenge to be constantly launching on new platforms, teens are really at the forefront of what the newest technologies and newest social media platforms are. They’re constantly finding new ways to connect. As their parents jump onto one platform, they may jump onto the next. So, we always have to be on top of what’s new, but it has really enabled us to spread our message and to reach a greater audience, and reach teens on different platforms.

Joey Bartolomeo

On how easy or hard it was to become a multiplatform brand being so rooted in print (Joey Bartolomeo): And one cool thing that we’ve done in print is to start including Snapcodes with some of our stories. What we’ll do is have a story and then it’ll drive to…we had one with a playlist, and it’ll drive to a story on our website where they can check out all of the music on the playlist. So, we know that they may have their phones in their hands while they’re reading the print magazine, and we’re giving them a really full experience and coming at them in a way that they actually consume things.

On the secret of Seventeen’s continued success while other mass market teen magazines in print have folded (Joey Bartolomeo): First of all, having Hearst behind us is amazing. We have great support from David Carey and Joanna Coles and everybody. They have all been really behind us and they were really behind us in getting the bus for the march and I think that’s so important, that they see the value in the Seventeen brand and what it means to people. Another thing is Seventeen, like you said, has been around for 74 years. So, there are a lot of people in the world, in this country, who have read Seventeen. And they know that it’s a brand that they can trust. They read it as teens; they’re daughters read it as teens; and they want their kids to read it.

On what’s next for Seventeen (Kristen Koch): What’s so exciting about Seventeen is as you said, this brand holds such a special place in so many people’s hearts, and so we’ve been able to really keep our core areas, while also expanding, and every day there’s something new. We’ve launched on Musical.ly; we’ve launched on Snapchat; we’re going to be ramping up on Snapchat; we tend to invest more in activism, such as the bus. It was a huge experience that we brought to the teens. We did a video booth at the march as well, where students could take videos explaining why they were marching. Hearst donated money to Everytown for Gun Safety every time a video was posted. That was a really exciting way that we could get involved in the march and also to help show that their voices mattered and their marching mattered and to help raise money for a great cause.

On what’s next for Seventeen (Joey Bartolomeo): And something that I think sets Kristin and I apart from other brands or other teams here, is that we actually do work a lot together So for Seventeen print and digital, we’re always communicating, we have regular meetings; we really try to see how we can sync up in special ways. And one of those things that is really important to us is our “Perfectly Me” initiative, which promotes body confidence and it’s something that we do every October.

On any fear of backlash, such as hashtag fake news, hashtag fake Seventeen (Kristin Koch): No, Seventeen is such a trusted brand and what we’ve seen is that our audience is so excited to get information from us and to work with us. They care about the issues that we’re talking about. In large part, as Joey said, we are amplifying their voices; we’re talking to them; we’re featuring them; we’re telling their stories. The world sort of woke up to the idea that teens are political, but they’ve always been. They’ve always been really invested in this, and I think everyone trusts Seventeen. We have amazing stories; we have great research, and we’re really here to guide teens along the way.

On what someone would find her doing if they showed up unexpectedly one evening at her home (Joey Bartolomeo): I am probably watching Riverdale on the DVR because I need to catch up on that show. I like to make sure that I’m in tune with what our readers are interested in, but I also do think Riverdale is a great show. After that, I’m probably asleep, because I have a three and a half year old. So, it’s long days.

On what someone would find her doing if they showed up unexpectedly one evening at her home (Kristin Koch): I’m probably right alongside Joey, binge watching one of our shows that our audience is obsessed with, Riverdale being one of the big ones. Or we program 24/7 on digital, so I’m probably still making sure there is no breaking news. If a celebrity our readers are following is getting married, I am going to be making sure that my entire team is posting, checking our Instagram, watching YouTube videos, making sure we’re on top of everything. After that, probably like Joey, going to bed. I have a young son too. (Laughs)

On what she would have tattooed upon her brain that would be there forever and no one could ever forget about her (Kristin Koch): The motto I sort of grew up living by, in many ways inspired by Seventeen, and that I hope to impart upon our audience going forward is be the change that you wish to see in the world. And that’s really what I hope to bring to Seventeen everyday through our programming. We have a lot of fun and passion and beauty too, but a huge part of what Seventeen is empowering teens to live their dreams and change the world. And it’s something that I try and do through my job everyday as well.

On what she would have tattooed upon her brain that would be there forever and no one could ever forget about her (Joey Bartolomeo): Something that I’ve actually said to girls that I’ve spoken to is embrace the curls, because I have curly hair. I spent decades trying to manage it and when I finally figured out how to do it, and I went with the curl and didn’t try to straighten it, it changed my life. And I know that sounds like a crazy statement, but when you stop fighting against things, like who you really are, it still takes work to get my hair to look the way it does, but I’m not in a constant struggle. And the message that I want girls to get out of that is go with who you are. Don’t try to reshape yourself, to fit into something or fight against something.

On what keeps her up at night (Joey Bartolomeo): There is so much, honestly. I think a lot, because it’s really on our minds lately, about this gun violence issue. And just the idea that everyone, teens, and like Kristin and I said, we’ve also got young kids, and just the idea of not feeling safe. And that’s not just in schools, but that’s in neighborhoods, because we obviously know that gun violence is not just something that’s limited to schools. There are teens facing this every single day across the country, just walking down the street.

On what keeps her up at night (Kristin Koch): For me, one of the things that we talk about all of the time is just making sure that young people are still going to have access to control over their bodies and their choices. That they can go use the bathroom that they feel comfortable using and that they don’t have to hide who they are for fear of some sort of retribution or somebody attacking them.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Joey Bartolomeo, executive editor, and Kristin Koch, digital director, Seventeen magazine.

Samir Husni: Seventeen Magazine, which started in 1944, was aimed at the 12-19-year-olds then. And I read in the press release that this was the biggest moment for teens since Vietnam. Tell me more about the audience of Seventeen magazine today and why do you say that they are social media savvy? Update us on the status of the audience for the Seventeen brand today.

Kristin Koch: Our audience is incredibly powerful. Social media has enabled them to activate in new ways. In addition, obviously, we’re still seeing them mobilize in real person and go to organized marches, protests and walkouts, but now they’re able to reach a larger audience. They’re able to have their voices stretch across multiple platforms using social media. They’re able to tap into celebrities; they’re able to talk to politicians; they’re able to get their voices and their messages really heard.

And Seventeen has been a platform for teen voices and we’ve been there to really help amplify those voices and effect change. So, as we see teens use their voices and these platforms to effect change and to campaign for social justice, we’ve really been there alongside them campaigning.

Samir Husni: If teens today are that social media savvy, why do they need a brand, such as Seventeen, that has been so rooted in print?

Joey Bartolomeo: They’re still getting a lot of information from a lot of places and when you’re talking about print in particular, we’re kind of tuning out the noise for them. And so they come to print to really get a more curated experience and to find out things that they may not be getting on social media or from their friends. We’re this big sister that’s there for them. The things that we cover in the magazine and online are sometimes similar and sometimes different. There are still things in the magazine that are there for them. And who doesn’t want to see themselves in print, let’s be honest. It’s very special.

In print, what we love to do is highlight girls who are, as Kristin said, using their voices to make change in the world, but then they’re also getting things from our editors, such as fashion and beauty, but it’s coming from experts and not just from watching a YouTube video or picking up something from Instagram. We’re talking to dermatologists when it comes to beauty and we have our fashion editors who they really trust and admire, so they are getting a lot out of the print magazine as well. And one thing that girls have told me before is that the magazine doesn’t drain their phone batteries and we know how important that is.

Samir Husni: Once, a former publisher of Seventeen told me that she viewed the magazine as a friend with benefits, but with a PG rating.

Joey Bartolomeo: I think that’s a very good way to put it. We cover topics related to sex, but we do it in such a way that we’re definitely not R-rated. We just want girls to have the information they need to make smart choices, so we’re not telling them how to have sex, we’re telling them what information they need to know about their bodies and their minds before they go and make a decision that could really affect their lives.

Samir Husni: Recently, you went beyond sex, fashion and beauty; you entered the political realms by chartering a bus to take 30 New York City teens who could not afford to go on their own to join the “March for Our Lives” in Washington, D.C. Are we seeing a change in the content of magazine brands, especially those in the teen space?

Joey Bartolomeo: These are things that Seventeen has covered from the start of the magazine. Activism, helping out different people, using your voice; so, no, I think that the idea of teens speaking up and fighting for things has been something that Seventeen has been behind for decades. Sometimes you might hear more about it in the media now, but we know that Gen Z, and those are our readers right now, they’re so into this. They’re activists, and we’ve been highlighting that for years now. And the millennials before that. So, it’s not as new as people think it is. We know that they’ve been doing this and Seventeen has been doing this for decades.

Kristin Koch: It’s sort of like what you said with the Vietnam War; teens have always been at the helm of these movements, students advocating for change. Of course, today they have many more tools to get their voices out there. And we’re really the teens’ guide to navigating; high school and college are some of the trickiest, most confusing times in your life. We know teens are smart and savvy, but they’re still looking for guidance and they’re still looking to us for answers.

And we’re always here for them to get them through these tough times and to help them, like Joey said, to make smart decisions for their bodies and minds, and to effect change. And to help them get the tools to learn how to be activists; how to organize together. We’re a great source to help connect them. Just like on the bus we’re going to be connecting teens from different organizations, all of whom are really passionate about fighting for change and fighting against gun violence. So, we’re able to bring them together and help to enable them to use their voices and go to this rally to fight for a cause that they feel really strongly and passionately about. And that affects them every single day.

Joey Bartolomeo: And if I could add one more thing, I think what Seventeen is really great at is highlighting teen’s voices and we really focus on that. We want to hear from the girls, so it’s not adults talking and telling stories, it’s the teens.

Samir Husni: Historically speaking, magazines have always either reflected or initiated what’s going on in society. Where do you see Seventeen? Is it a reflection of the teens in the United States or is it initiating things for the teens?

Joey Bartolomeo: We really let the girls lead us on a lot of things. We see what they’re interested in and what they’re fighting for. And obviously, we look around and we know what the big issues are in the world of teens. So, we really try to follow their lead. We’re not pushing an agenda on them; we see what’s important to them, whether it’s letting transgender kids in high schools use the bathroom of their choice, or getting proper sex-ed in their schools. There was one girl that we featured who was protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. These are things that are meaningful to teens and we just want to help show that if you’re a teen, maybe you can’t vote or maybe you don’t think that you have any power, but you really do and you can effect change.

Kristin Koch: We’re also helping to bring to light issues that really matter to them and should matter to them. And we’re making sure that they’re aware of everything that’s affecting them. And as Joey said, they may not be able to vote, but we want to make sure that they’re empowered to have access to information and to be able to know about the issues that are impacting their lives. So, we’re covering these issues and bringing them to the teens, but we’re coming to them with a perspective of what matters to them, how is this going to affect them, how can they create change as teens, not as adults.

Samir Husni: How easy or hard has the change been, going from a single platform, ink on paper, to a multiplatform, if you name it, you exist on it? What were some of the difficulties in that transition or was it a walk in a rose garden for the brand?

Kristin Koch: Obviously, it’s always a challenge to be constantly launching on new platforms, teens are really at the forefront of what the newest technologies and newest social media platforms are. They’re constantly finding new ways to connect. As their parents jump onto one platform, they may jump onto the next. So, we always have to be on top of what’s new, but it has really enabled us to spread our message and to reach a greater audience, and reach teens on different platforms.

So, as an extension, we’re all one brand. We have the same goals, but on different platforms we’re able to talk to them in different ways, we’re able to react to different kinds of events in different ways. Where the magazine might be able to profile and give more in depth and give the stories that readers really want to relish and spend time in; on social media we can cover the stuff in real time and we can also highlight teens on social media as well as in the magazine. You’re always going to see young people on our pages; you’re always going to see them on our feeds. We’re tackling many of the same issues, we’re just doing them in different ways that make sense for that platform and that audience.

And I think Seventeen is such a good example of how we’ve been a very nimble team, we’ll transition really quickly depending on how our audience changes and how they’re consuming content. This year on digital, for example, we really shifted away from just programming content strictly for the website to focus on video and social-first programming, because that’s where now you see teens reading a lot of their media and news, on Snapchat’s Discover. It’s almost like a mini-magazine experience. And so, we launched on Snapchat in September. We relaunched our YouTube channel because lots of teens are consuming video now and they’re using YouTube as a their TV, but also as their Google in many ways, and that’s where they search for answers to things.

So, we’re really giving a 360 approach to their lives and they turn to Seventeen as a guide. As Joey said, it’s like their big sister, and we’re their best friend and biggest supporter. And so, it’s challenging to always be on every platform for them, but it enables us to have a constant conversation, to stay on top of everything they care about.

And it’s a two-way street, it’s not just us blasting out information to them, we’re really communicating with them. We’re building relationships, they know our editor, and as they see their videos, they connect to them. They talk to them on social media, so we’re really building a community.

Joey Bartolomeo: And one cool thing that we’ve done in print is to start including Snapcodes with some of our stories. What we’ll do is have a story and then it’ll drive to…we had one with a playlist, and it’ll drive to a story on our website where they can check out all of the music on the playlist. So, we know that they may have their phones in their hands while they’re reading the print magazine, and we’re giving them a really full experience and coming at them in a way that they actually consume things.

Samir Husni: Seventeen is the last-standing of all of the mass, major teen magazines in print. What is the brand’s secret of survivability compared to all of the other magazines, whether it was Teen People or Young Miss or Teen Vogue? Why do you think Seventeen continues in print and all of its other platforms?

Joey Bartolomeo: First of all, having Hearst behind us is amazing. We have great support from David Carey and Joanna Coles and everybody. They have all been really behind us and they were really behind us in getting the bus for the march and I think that’s so important, that they see the value in the Seventeen brand and what it means to people. Another thing is Seventeen, like you said, has been around for 74 years. So, there are a lot of people in the world, in this country, who have read Seventeen. And they know that it’s a brand that they can trust. They read it as teens; they’re daughters read it as teens; and they want their kids to read it.

We hear from moms and grandparents all of the time saying they love our magazine and that they’re getting it for their daughters, and we hear from the daughters, who also say they love the magazine and that they’re still reading it and they’re in college. So, there’s something very special about it. And I think that people really do have that connection, That’s not to say that the magazines that haven’t survived didn’t do great things, because they really did, but I think that Seventeen has lasted so long because it’s trustworthy and we have great content and I believe people feel really connected to it, because again, it’s for the girls. The girls read it, they see themselves in it and that’s so important to teens, to really feel like they’re getting a genuine product.

It’s really amazing. Whenever we meet girls and if we say that Seventeen is doing this or that, we hear people get very excited about it. People love the brand. Girls know the brand of Seventeen and they love it. It’s exciting for us to get to interact with them when we meet them, because we know how important it is in their lives. And we all grew up reading Seventeen and it holds a very special place in our hearts as well. We try to bring to it the things that it brought to us. In many ways we’re answering the questions that maybe they’re too embarrassed to ask or helping them achieve their dreams. Or helping them figure things out and giving them a place to potentially see themselves, and maybe be featured and to help them do really amazing things.

It’s really also been an honor for us to highlight all of the teens who do such amazing things because growing up, we would read this magazine and we would be so inspired by other teens doing cool things. And now we have the chance to do that and to offer them multiple platforms to be able to amplify their voices and their messages.

Samir Husni: What’s next for Seventeen?

Kristin Koch: What’s so exciting about Seventeen is as you said, this brand holds such a special place in so many people’s hearts, and so we’ve been able to really keep our core areas, while also expanding, and every day there’s something new. We’ve launched on Musical.ly; we’ve launched on Snapchat; we’re going to be ramping up on Snapchat; we tend to invest more in activism, such as the bus. It was a huge experience that we brought to the teens. We did a video booth at the march as well, where students could take videos explaining why they were marching. Hearst donated money to Everytown for Gun Safety every time a video was posted. That was a really exciting way that we could get involved in the march and also to help show that their voices mattered and their marching mattered and to help raise money for a great cause.

Now, we’re looking to other ways that we can activate. There’s a lot happening in the world right now that’s really impacting teens. We launched a kind of sister community to Seventeen called Here and it is focused on our LGBTQ readers and their allies. It’s a Facebook group as well as a vertical on Seventeen.com and an Instagram channel. We’ve had a great response to that and we’re excited to grow it and we’re excited to see how digital and print can work together to create more live events, to create more and different campaigns around issues that matter. And to continue to advocate for teens and stand behind their fighting for different changes and fighting to make this world a better, more just place for them, while also guiding them through the tricky and fun and terrifying years as they grow from teens into adults.

Joey Bartolomeo: And something that I think sets Kristin and I apart from other brands or other teams here, is that we actually do work a lot together So for Seventeen print and digital, we’re always communicating, we have regular meetings; we really try to see how we can sync up in special ways. And one of those things that is really important to us is our “Perfectly Me” initiative, which promotes body confidence and it’s something that we do every October.

We worked really hard together on the bus trip to Washington, D.C. because we really wanted to make it not just a ride down for the girls, but we wanted to make it an event and something that they would get a lot out of and make it special, because we had them on the bus with us for at least eight hours. So, we actually worked on things for the bus, not just the experience of the march. We hoped that they would come away with a really full experience from the day.

Kristin Koch: I’ll also say that I think it’s been so clear right now that teens are changing the world and they’re our future and they’re going to remake this world into a more just, diverse, equitable place. And I see so much potential for Seventeen because we’re right there beside them, helping to guide them, helping to amplify their voices, as we said. And so there’s no limit on where Seventeen can go, because there’s really no limit on what teens can do and on what teens are doing.

Joey Bartolomeo: And we’re so excited that the rest of the world is figuring out how amazing these teens are right now. We hope that we will be able to share so many of their stories in print and on digital going forward. And to really help this generation get their messages out and become the leaders that they clearly are. When they get to be in college and beyond, we’re going to see so much from our readers now. It’s going to be amazing.

Samir Husni: Any fear of backlash: hashtag fake news, hashtag fake Seventeen?

Kristin Koch: No, Seventeen is such a trusted brand and what we’ve seen is that our audience is so excited to get information from us and to work with us. They care about the issues that we’re talking about. In large part, as Joey said, we are amplifying their voices; we’re talking to them; we’re featuring them; we’re telling their stories. The world sort of woke up to the idea that teens are political, but they’ve always been. They’ve always been really invested in this, and I think everyone trusts Seventeen. We have amazing stories; we have great research, and we’re really here to guide teens along the way.

Samir Husni: If I showed up unexpectedly at your home one evening after work, what would I find you doing? Having a glass of wine; reading a magazine; cooking; watching TV; or something else?

Joey Bartolomeo: What time is it you’re coming? (Laughs)

Samir Husni: (Laughs too) 9:15 in the evening.

Joey Bartolomeo: 9:15 p.m.? I am probably watching Riverdale on the DVR because I need to catch up on that show. I like to make sure that I’m in tune with what our readers are interested in, but I also do think Riverdale is a great show. After that, I’m probably asleep, because I have a three and a half year old. So, it’s long days.

Kristin Koch: I’m probably right alongside Joey, binge watching one of our shows that our audience is obsessed with, Riverdale being one of the big ones. Or we program 24/7 on digital, so I’m probably still making sure there is no breaking news. If a celebrity our readers are following is getting married, I am going to be making sure that my entire team is posting, checking our Instagram, watching YouTube videos, making sure we’re on top of everything. After that, probably like Joey, going to bed. I have a young son too. (Laughs)

Samir Husni: If you could have one thing tattooed upon your brain that no one would ever forget about you, what would it be?

Kristin Koch: The motto I sort of grew up living by, in many ways inspired by Seventeen, and that I hope to impart upon our audience going forward is be the change that you wish to see in the world. And that’s really what I hope to bring to Seventeen everyday through our programming. We have a lot of fun and passion and beauty too, but a huge part of what Seventeen is empowering teens to live their dreams and change the world. And it’s something that I try and do through my job everyday as well.

Joey Bartolomeo: Something that I’ve actually said to girls that I’ve spoken to is embrace the curls, because I have curly hair. I spent decades trying to manage it and when I finally figured out how to do it, and I went with the curl and didn’t try to straighten it, it changed my life. And I know that sounds like a crazy statement, but when you stop fighting against things, like who you really are, it still takes work to get my hair to look the way it does, but I’m not in a constant struggle. And the message that I want girls to get out of that is go with who you are. Don’t try to reshape yourself, to fit into something or fight against something.

If you’re gay, don’t fight against it, go with it; go with who you are. Go with what your interests are and go with what makes you happy. That doesn’t mean it’s always going to be easy, but your life will feel so much better and you’ll be so much happier when you look in the mirror and you’re not struggling every day. If you just really embrace who you are. And I think that’s a really important message that we put into Seventeen all of the time. It’s about feeling confident in who you are and I really want girls to feel that way.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Joey Bartolomeo: There is so much, honestly. I think a lot, because it’s really on our minds lately, about this gun violence issue. And just the idea that everyone, teens, and like Kristin and I said, we’ve also got young kids, and just the idea of not feeling safe. And that’s not just in schools, but that’s in neighborhoods, because we obviously know that gun violence is not just something that’s limited to schools. There are teens facing this every single day across the country, just walking down the street.

It’s something lately that is on my mind. I hope that we can live in a safer place and I hope that young people can really effect some change and get something happening, so they don’t have to feel so scared every day wherever they are.

Kristin Koch: For me, one of the things that we talk about all of the time is just making sure that young people are still going to have access to control over their bodies and their choices. That they can go use the bathroom that they feel comfortable using and that they don’t have to hide who they are for fear of some sort of retribution or somebody attacking them.

We spend so much time encouraging teens to really embrace who they are and embrace the curls, as Joey said. We work hard every day to make sure that we’re able to let them know about what’s happening; how to fight against any legislation or any hatred that is preventing them from being able to be themselves and feel comfortable. And to be able to just be teens and enjoy that, and to grow up into adults who are able to embrace fully who they are and to be accepted. And feel comfortable doing that.

Joey Bartolomeo: I read the emails that come in from readers and they’re not always teens who are writing in, and I send then to Kristin sometimes. Some people have these attitudes that I think are so harmful to girls and that’s something that we talk about a lot. And it’s just unbelievable to me the way that some people refer to girls and the things that they have to fight against.

And it’s something that shocks me every time I get one of these emails. All of the sexism. But with things like the Me Too movement, we’re hoping things will change and they’ll feel safer and the workplace will be for effective, but we’re still seeing so many stories about sexual assault and that young women’s rights are being diluted in the halls of Congress. We just want to continue to advocate for young people and that they are able to own their choices. That they’re able to help identify what sexual harassment is. And hopefully all the work that we’re doing now will mean in the future our sons and daughters won’t have to face this in the same way that so many women have had to.

And that goes into bullying, body shaming, everything like that as well. Social media has a lot of great things about it and then it has a lot of downsides. And it’s something that we see girls struggle with all of the time. We just hope that if we can have Seventeen be a positive, encouraging platform for them in print and online, then hopefully that will help them spread positive messages and really get past these troubles that are out there, and the people who have these negative comments. And who are trying to take girls down.

Samir Husni: Thank you both.

“I don’t just consider myself editor in chief of a weekly magazine, but of an entire content organization. I became editor in chief a little over three years ago, and I remember when I was growing up, I felt that Entertainment Weekly set the agenda for that particular week’s conversation, like this is what we need to be psyched about in entertainment. So, I really tried to move that thought process into the 21st century. And I really want to give readers something on the cover of this magazine and inside the magazine that they can’t get on the Internet, that they can’t find on anyone’s social media feed, because of what our access allows.” Henry Goldblatt…

“In trying to make it spunky and something that fans would appreciate, and doing something in print that we can’t do online or in any other version of the brand, that and doing 15 covers and a big 40-page package inside, it really set it apart from digital content and made the print version special.” Tim Leong (on the landmark 15 commemorative Avengers covers EW did and 40-page inside Marvel package)…

For 28 years, Entertainment Weekly has been the go-to source for entertainment media news, reviews, and in depth articles about Hollywood behind-the-scenes, and for those fans who want a more inclusive and exclusive look at their favorite movies and TV shows.

Fandom is vitally important to the brand, such as the recent issue of Entertainment Weekly; it is one for the books. To honor Avengers: Infinity War, the latest and nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, EW published 15 commemorative covers featuring 22 superheroes and one bad guy. This is a big first for EW as it’s the most covers dedicated to an issue in the brand’s 28-year history and largely unprecedented in media.

To get the scoop on this fascinating landmark issue, I recently spoke to Henry Goldblatt, editor in chief and Tim Leong, newly promoted executive editor, about the amazing 15 covers and the equally amazing 40-page, exhaustive love letter to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Tim conceived. It was a lively, fun and informational conversation, much like the EW brand itself.

We also talked about the recent pack-up and move to the West Coast the brand undertook and the new Meredith ownership that has everyone excited about the future, laying to rest any of those rumored fears about Meredith selling EW and dampening bright horizons.

So, I hope that you enjoy this Mr. Magazine™ interview with a weekly brand that is strong on all of its many platforms, with two gentlemen at the helm who believe in its continued success fully and are always looking forward to the next week and the next issue, Henry Goldblatt, editor in chief, and Tim Leong, executive editor, Entertainment Weekly.

But first the sound-bites:

On Entertainment Weekly’s new ownership, new location, and all of the changes that are happening (Henry Goldblatt): I’m really excited because we’re a 28-year-old brand and it really feels like a startup. We were really able to reinvent ourselves with this move. And it was as simple as me putting together a business plan with the thought being that if we were starting this brand from scratch today, we would start it in L.A. And of course, when this brand was started back in the day it was started in New York City, because that’s where all publishing was and technology wasn’t good enough to put out a magazine across country when all of the hub was in New York. And that’s obviously changed.

On the role of print in a digital age (Henry Goldblatt): That’s a really good question. I don’t just consider myself editor in chief of a weekly magazine, but of an entire content organization. I became editor in chief a little over three years ago, and I remember when I was growing up, I felt that Entertainment Weekly set the agenda for that particular week’s conversation, like this is what we need to be psyched about in entertainment. So, I really tried to move that thought process into the 21st century. And I really want to give readers something on the cover of this magazine and inside the magazine that they can’t get on the Internet, that they can’t find on anyone’s social media feed, because of what our access allows.

On the role of Entertainment Weekly’s cover today (Henry Goldblatt): My job is to set the entertainment agenda and conversation each week, and luckily I’ve done a lot of stunts in order to do this. The 15 Avengers covers are the perfect example of this. If I had just published one Avengers cover, people would have thought that was nice, whatever, but it really takes effective stunts like the Dawson’s Creek reunion or an Avengers 15 covers stunt in order to grab readers’ attention in a crowded media landscape. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it.

On how Executive Editor Tim Leong conceived the 15 Avengers covers and his 40-page love letter to Marvel Cinematic Universe fans (Tim Leong): The process started almost a year ago. It began when we were trying to figure out how we would put all of these people on a cover, there are 20-something characters in this movie, so we were trying to figure out the logistics of even doing it. In trying to make it spunky and something that fans would appreciate, and doing something in print that we can’t do online or in any other version of the brand, that and doing 15 covers and a big 40-page package inside, it really set it apart from digital content and made the print version special.

On the execution of those 15 covers and whether the art director and design team were in shock (Tim Leong): The idea sounds a little crazy, right? It’s a little complicated, because I was the creative director at the time, when we first started the process. But by the time it published, I was no longer the creative director, so some of the wheels are already in motion, in terms of the planning and production of it, but the design of it all goes to Keir Novesky, our design director, who did that cover.

But it was a long back and forth. It started with a sketch that we did in-house and it’s pretty crazy, the final cover looks close to the original sketch, for sure. We definitely moved a lot of characters around and swapped some in and out, but it all started with a sketch.

On the secret to keeping their audience clicking and ticking and captivated (Tim Leong): We just did this great fandom study and the real heart of it shows that the fans really want to engage on multiple platforms, not only in print, but online and other avenues as well, social and live events. I think what Henry has done a great job at is directing this brand in a way that it is truly multiplatform. And I think part of that is having a consistent tone and voice across all of our platforms, making sure that we go to the places that our readers want to go, and bringing EW to all of the platforms where our readers live. And the study definitely backs that up.

On whether they’re making print more interactive (Henry Goldblatt): Yes. I mean, print is always going to be more of a lean-back experience, but I want to make sure that with this Avengers cover or with Dawson’s Creek or the Oscars, our entire staff sends out what we call a “rollout” for every issue. There’s a social point around every issue, there’s what articles are we publishing on ew.com; is there is a social campaign around that issue, is there a People TV special that we’re doing, what’s our video strategy? So, we’re asking ourselves all of those questions. If the issue covers the event in the tent pole, then we’re asking those questions around all of the ancillary things that come out of it.

On whether there is any time to do actual editing with all of the duties and responsibilities that today’s editor has (Henry Goldblatt): That’s a really good question. And I am going to give you a very honest answer. With the move to L.A., as I said, it does feel more like a startup. I’m doing a little more actual editing than I have been recently, but you’re absolutely right, a title of editor in chief can be a misnomer sometimes, because I may be working on a thousand things that have nothing to do with editing.

On Tim Leong being promoted from creative director to executive editor and is he happy using both talents (Tim Leong): The job goal is very similar, just the execution is different. Before you’re dreaming up how we’re going to treat this story from a design perspective, and now it’s how are we going to treat this story from an editorial perspective. And it’s still a ton of fun. I’m hugely excited about this opportunity and I’m eternally grateful to Henry for even considering me for this type of role. I find it to be incredibly fun and part of it is we have a wonderful stable of writers to work with. And they’re incredibly creative and that’s been one of the nicer joys of it.

On any truth to the rumors that Meredith might sell Entertainment Weekly (Henry Goldblatt): We read the same reports that you did. I was really heartened to hear the announcement a couple of weeks ago that Bruce Gersh was taking over as president of People and Entertainment Weekly and EVP of the company. He’s a great supporter of the brand and I don’t think they would have made such a fanfare announcement around that and put Entertainment Weekly in its purview just to sell us. I feel very confident about our future and I’m psyched to be a part of the Meredith family.

On anything either would like to add (Henry Goldblatt): I think the one thing that I’ve really tried to do at Entertainment Weekly is make sure that each of the print covers that are an event can feed our traffic, and the events themselves, can feed our traffic and our video streams and the rest of the brand in a very organic and cohesive way.

On what someone would find him doing if they showed up unexpectedly one evening at his home (Henry Goldblatt): I’m on the floor playing with my dog and watching TV, most likely Scandal.

On what someone would find him doing if they showed up unexpectedly one evening at his home (Tim Leong): If you came right this second, you’d see a mountain of boxes being unloaded. (Laughs) But I think one of the nice things about moving to the West Coast is an amplified family life. And you’d probably find me at home playing with my baby.

On what he would have tattooed upon his brain that would be there forever and no one could ever forget about him (Henry Goldblatt): This is going to make me sound like a company man, but when I took over Entertainment Weekly three years ago, the motto that I’ve used and would want everyone to engrave and tattoo on their foreheads is: Smart, Funny, First, those are the three qualities that every piece of Entertainment Weekly content should embody. A good piece embodies two of those qualities and a great piece embodies all three. I’ve been imparting this on the staff for years now and I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t tattoo it on my own forehead.

On what he would have tattooed upon his brain that would be there forever and no one could ever forget about him (Tim Leong): I’ve heard a lot of people say this, but I think it’s just so true and it’s what we really try to embody to the staff is work hard and be nice to people.

On what keeps him up at night (Henry Goldblatt): To be perfectly honest, what keeps me up at night is I’ve asked 25 to 30 people to uproot their lives and move to L.A. and have faith in me and in this brand, and I just want to come through for them and I don’t want to disappoint them.

On what keeps him up at night (Tim Leong): This job is a big responsibility and yes, we’re talking about entertainment, but even though it’s entertainment, it’s something that we take very seriously. And it’s something that I definitely want to be sure we do well, and I’m just trying to think about ways we can do it better. And even better for the future.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Henry Goldblatt, editor in chief, & Tim Leong, executive editor, Entertainment Weekly.

Samir Husni: Before we talk about Entertainment Weekly going to “Infinity War and Beyond,” Entertainment Weekly is going to the West Coast and beyond. What’s the status with Entertainment Weekly now, with the new ownership, the new location, with everything that’s taking place?

Henry Goldblatt: I’m really excited because we’re a 28-year-old brand and it really feels like a startup. We were really able to reinvent ourselves with this move. And it was as simple as me putting together a business plan with the thought being that if we were starting this brand from scratch today, we would start it in L.A. And of course, when this brand was started back in the day it was started in New York City, because that’s where all publishing was and technology wasn’t good enough to put out a magazine across country when all of the hub was in New York. And that’s obviously changed.

So, it’s really exciting to be in the backyard of the people and the projects that we cover and I think that it’s going to result in better access for us and more entertaining and better content for our readers.

Samir Husni: There is a lot of talk that in this day and age that there’s no room for print weeklies, and things are changing and moving so fast. Yet, last week I interviewed the chief revenue officer at Us Weekly and she said that they’re still doing two million copies. What do you think is the role of print in this digital age?

Henry Goldblatt: That’s a really good question. I don’t just consider myself editor in chief of a weekly magazine, but of an entire content organization. I became editor in chief a little over three years ago, and I remember when I was growing up, I felt that Entertainment Weekly set the agenda for that particular week’s conversation, like this is what we need to be psyched about in entertainment. So, I really tried to move that thought process into the 21st century. And I really want to give readers something on the cover of this magazine and inside the magazine that they can’t get on the Internet, that they can’t find on anyone’s social media feed, because of what our access allows.

We’re very lucky that movie studios and TV networks still vie to be on the cover of this magazine and that they realize it sells movie tickets and moves ratings for their TV shows. And so, we’re able to use that leverage in order to get some really wonderful, exclusive content.

Our next cover is going to be a reunion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dawson’s Creek. The cast has never been back together before, and this is something that we’ve been negotiating for months and months and months. And we’re super-excited about it and we think it’s going to do very well for us. When the cast was coming together, they would never do this for a random website, they wanted the prestige of Entertainment Weekly and we have a history with this show and being very good to them, so they were very excited about coming back together.

So, they will be on the cover of the magazine, there will be a special reunion TV show on People TV, and we have all sorts of videos and quizzes and all sorts of ancillary products and content that goes along with it that we’re super-excited about. Again, it’s the cover of this magazine that drew them to us and propels the best of the brand.

Samir Husni: I was in France once with Matt Bean when Matt was the editor and he mentioned then the fact that he never received a phone call from any celebrity to be on the website, they all wanted to be on the cover of the magazine. What do you believe is the role of the cover of Entertainment Weekly today?

Henry Goldblatt: I have to tip my hat to Matt, that’s a very good point. I’ve never received a call like that either. (Laughs) My job is to set the entertainment agenda and conversation each week, and luckily I’ve done a lot of stunts in order to do this. The 15 Avengers covers are the perfect example of this. If I had just published one Avengers cover, people would have thought that was nice, whatever, but it really takes effective stunts like the Dawson’s Creek reunion or an Avengers 15 covers stunt in order to grab readers’ attention in a crowded media landscape. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it.

Samir Husni: Tim, since you were behind the 40-page love letter to the fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, tell me how did you take the ideas and conceive those 15 covers?

Tim Leong: The process started almost a year ago. It began when we were trying to figure out how we would put all of these people on a cover, there are 20-something characters in this movie, so we were trying to figure out the logistics of even doing it.

One thing that really inspired the creation of this cover was comic book trading cards that I collected when I was a youth. When you collected them all and put them in the right order, sometimes they would make this 3×3 collecting card montage image. And I thought that was a really cool inspiration and loved it and wanted to try and replicate that. I hadn’t really seen it in magazines at this scale, certainly not one that included 15 covers. I always like a good challenge and trying to outdo ourselves every single time, so that was the inspiration. But it took that long, as we had to negotiate and produce this whole thing.

And to Henry’s point, in trying to make it spunky and something that fans would appreciate, and doing something in print that we can’t do online or in any other version of the brand, that and doing 15 covers and a big 40-page package inside, it really set it apart from digital content and made the print version special.

Henry Goldblatt: We sell all of the art issues in a back issue store, ew.com/backissue, and this one, so far, we’ve sold over 10,000 Avengers issues from the back issue store because people are collecting them all, which has been pretty awesome. And it’s important to note that EW is primarily a subscriber brand.

Samir Husni: Tell me a little about the execution of those 15 covers. How do you work with your art director, with the cover design? When Tim said let’s do this stunt cover, 15 covers, did the art director freak out, the design team? Did they say this is a weekly, what do you mean 15 covers? (Laughs)

Tim Leong: (Laughs too) The idea sounds a little crazy, right? It’s a little complicated, because I was the creative director at the time, when we first started the process. But by the time it published, I was no longer the creative director, so some of the wheels are already in motion, in terms of the planning and production of it, but the design of it all goes to Keir Novesky, our design director, who did that cover.

But it was a long back and forth. It started with a sketch that we did in-house and it’s pretty crazy, the final cover looks close to the original sketch, for sure. We definitely moved a lot of characters around and swapped some in and out, but it all started with a sketch.

It’s really interesting too, talking about these fans who have gone crazy for them. This happens quite a bit with some of our other covers, but there’s such fan passion for these characters and these franchises that a lot of fans start to make their own versions of the covers. Sometimes they feel slighted because their favorite character wasn’t on it or they really want someone else to be on the cover with someone else and they start making all of their fan versions of the cover, which is really cool to see.

Henry Goldblatt: I just wanted to add one thing to what Tim was saying. Tim is being super-modest, because of ideas like these I promoted him to executive editor because he was doing so much more than being the creative director. He really has both the outside of his brain and an editorial side of his brain that’s amazing, so it was ideas like this that got him that promotion.

Samir Husni: If I put all of these 15 covers together, would I get some kind of a poster of the Avengers?

Tim Leong: They all connect to make one big image. The background connects.

Henry Goldblatt: If you look at page one of our Avengers issue, you’ll see how they all connect.

Samir Husni: You’re also adding to the print by the entire website and brand. As you mentioned Henry, you’re no longer just doing a magazine, you have a brand. How are you going to ensure that the content in this brand and all of these exclusives from this cover that you can buy at the back issues store, to the Dawson’s Creek cover that’s coming up, how can you ensure that connectivity with an audience? I remember the former CEO of Time Inc. telling me that there is only an eight second attention span, do you have to do one stunt after another to keep their attention? What’s the secret to keeping your audience clicking and ticking?

Henry Goldblatt: I’m very fortunate; I have an enormous depth of research on the types of projects that our audience likes, and I’m actually going to let Tim speak to this, because he was involved in the study.

Tim Leong: We just did this great fandom study and the real heart of it shows that the fans really want to engage on multiple platforms, not only in print, but online and other avenues as well, social and live events. I think what Henry has done a great job at is directing this brand in a way that it is truly multiplatform. And I think part of that is having a consistent tone and voice across all of our platforms, making sure that we go to the places that our readers want to go, and bringing EW to all of the platforms where our readers live. And the study definitely backs that up.

But the study was really interesting and that was a really key takeaway for us. Fandom is a real mainstay for us, because you might just think of Avengers, that’s fandom, but that also applies to Outlander, which has been a massive success for us.

Henry Goldblatt: Yes, it’s not just fandom and you automatically think of the Comic-Con crowd, that’s not the case at all. We have fandoms such as Outlander, which is a very female skewing fandom that does every bit as well for us, both digitally and in print, as Avengers does. Shondaland is another big fandom, between Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, that skews more female and does very well for us too. The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones; there are all of these pockets that our readers are passionate about.

And you may be a subscriber to Entertainment Weekly and you may not like every single subject that’s on the cover, but I guarantee you that throughout the year I’m going to appeal to you more often than I won’t.

Tim Leong: I just think one of the things that EW does better than other brands is really over delivering and going all in on those different fandoms. Like this Avengers one, for instance, giving you 40 pages, there are little fun things throughout. We hid 10 little Ant-Man characters throughout the issue just so you can find them. We just really kind of over deliver on the things that our readers love in a way that no one else can.

Henry Goldblatt: On the flip side to Avengers, about three weeks ago, we did a 90th anniversary tribute to the Oscars that was 40 or 50 pages and we called it “Hollywood’s Greatest Untold Stories – The Oscars Edition,” and we took a deep dive into the things you may not know about Oscar-winning movies; the things you could never see on TV. We worked with the Academy and got a whole bunch of pictures that they had never released before that were exclusive to Entertainment Weekly for this issue. So, an Oscars fan may be different from an Avengers fan, they may be the same, but we try and cover the entire pop culture landscape.

Samir Husni: Are you telling me that you’re making print interactive?

Henry Goldblatt: Yes. I mean, print is always going to be more of a lean-back experience, but I want to make sure that with this Avengers cover or with Dawson’s Creek or the Oscars, our entire staff sends out what we call a “rollout” for every issue. There’s a social point around every issue, there’s what articles are we publishing on ew.com; is there is a social campaign around that issue, is there a People TV special that we’re doing, what’s our video strategy? So, we’re asking ourselves all of those questions. If the issue covers the event in the tent pole, then we’re asking those questions around all of the ancillary things that come out of it.

Samir Husni: I have to ask you the questions; with the new ownership, with the move, with everything taking place, with the enhanced responsibilities, is the job of a magazine editor today a walk in a rose garden or was it ever a walk in a rose garden and do you have time to do any editing?

Henry Goldblatt: (Laughs) That’s a really good question. And I am going to give you a very honest answer. With the move to L.A., as I said, it does feel more like a startup. I’m doing a little more actual editing than I have been recently, but you’re absolutely right, a title of editor in chief can be a misnomer sometimes, because I may be working on a thousand things that have nothing to do with editing.

One of my favorite things that I get to do every week is a radio show for EW Radio and Sirius XM. And I never grew up with a broadcast background or any type of radio background, and this is a brand extension that I’m super proud of and we’re very invested in and it’s making us a lot of money. Sure, I never thought I’d be a radio broadcaster, but here I am and I’m enjoying it.

I work a lot with our publisher and our business side on initiatives, and again, that’s not what I was trained to do, but I’m enjoying it as well. So, having been in journalism for a long time, it’s nice to be able to stumble onto these new things and stretch my brain a bit.

Samir Husni: Tim, you moved from being creative director to the executive editor; what comes with that move? Are you happier using both talents? Do you have one foot in each place now?

Tim Leong: The job goal is very similar, just the execution is different. Before you’re dreaming up how we’re going to treat this story from a design perspective, and now it’s how are we going to treat this story from an editorial perspective. And it’s still a ton of fun. I’m hugely excited about this opportunity and I’m eternally grateful to Henry for even considering me for this type of role. I find it to be incredibly fun and part of it is we have a wonderful stable of writers to work with. And they’re incredibly creative and that’s been one of the nicer joys of it.

And not to go back to the Avengers, but so much of it is planning fun, cool stuff to do. And in the creative director role, that’s doing cool designs and illustrations and that type of cool stuff, but here it could be, for instance, with the cover story that’s coming out this week is “Ready Player One.” And I don’t know if you’re familiar with the book and the movie that’s coming out, directed by Steven Spielberg, but in that cover story our writer, Anthony Breznican, talks about how Steven Spielberg, his crew kept trying to put references to Steven Spielberg’s movie into Ready Player One, and he kept trying to take them out.

So, one thing that we did in the text was highlight or kind of write in titles of Steven Spielberg’s movies in the text and design them with the logos of those movie titles. It’s more of an editorial thing and about making it fun and interactive, and something special that you can only do in print and doesn’t quite work as well online. So, a lot of the goals are the same, the execution is just a little bit different between those two jobs.

Samir Husni: And I have to ask you about the rumors that Meredith may be selling the magazine, any truth to that?

Henry Goldblatt: We read the same reports that you did. I was really heartened to hear the announcement a couple of weeks ago that Bruce Gersh was taking over as president of People and Entertainment Weekly and EVP of the company. He’s a great supporter of the brand and I don’t think they would have made such a fanfare announcement around that and put Entertainment Weekly in its purview just to sell us. I feel very confident about our future and I’m psyched to be a part of the Meredith family.

Samir Husni: Is there anything else either of you would like to add?

Henry Goldblatt: I think the one thing that I’ve really tried to do at Entertainment Weekly is make sure that each of the print covers that are an event can feed our traffic, and the events themselves, can feed our traffic and our video streams and the rest of the brand in a very organic and cohesive way.

Samir Husni: If I showed up unexpectedly at your home one evening after work, what would I find you doing? Having a glass of wine; reading a magazine; cooking; watching TV; or something else?

Henry Goldblatt: I’m on the floor playing with my dog and watching TV, most likely Scandal.

Tim Leong: If you came right this second, you’d see a mountain of boxes being unloaded. (Laughs) But I think one of the nice things about moving to the West Coast is an amplified family life. And you’d probably find me at home playing with my baby.

Samir Husni: If you could have one thing tattooed upon your brain that no one would ever forget about you, what would it be?

Henry Goldblatt: This is going to make me sound like a company man, but when I took over Entertainment Weekly three years ago, the motto that I’ve used and would want everyone to engrave and tattoo on their foreheads is: Smart, Funny, First, those are the three qualities that every piece of Entertainment Weekly content should embody. A good piece embodies two of those qualities and a great piece embodies all three. I’ve been imparting this on the staff for years now and I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t tattoo it on my own forehead.

Tim Leong: I’ve heard a lot of people say this, but I think it’s just so true and it’s what we really try to embody to the staff is work hard and be nice to people.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Henry Goldblatt: To be perfectly honest, what keeps me up at night is I’ve asked 25 to 30 people to uproot their lives and move to L.A. and have faith in me and in this brand, and I just want to come through for them and I don’t want to disappoint them.

Tim Leong: This job is a big responsibility and yes, we’re talking about entertainment, but even though it’s entertainment, it’s something that we take very seriously. And it’s something that I definitely want to be sure we do well, and I’m just trying to think about ways we can do it better. And even better for the future.

Samir Husni: Thank you both.

“I’m a great fan of digital and I’m a big supporter. Us Weekly has a very sizeable print footprint with just under two million copies, 1,968,000 per week is our most recent AAM (Alliance For Audited Media) statement for the six months ending December 2017, so of course, we’re big believers in print. And I am incredulous with the number of conversations that I have with agencies and clients in acknowledging that their own research with media-mix modeling, etc. will point to a strong ROI, but it’s not in fashion, so the industry is often plagued with people who are concerned for their jobs because they’re not forward-thinking enough.” Vicci Rose…

“I do feel we just have to temper the industry’s excitement. And there are certain advertisers that rushed into the digital world, and so because we could measure it, thought that it would have the measurement that they wanted. But if we continue to see that click-through rates are a fraction of a percent, there isn’t an advertiser out there that could believe that is a success metric, where at the same time any of the more traditional quantitative research in print, Starch for example, shows tremendous awareness, tremendous activity levels, as a result of engaging with the ads. And that continues, even in the face of such tremendous, widespread access to digital.” Vicci Rose…

A lot can happen in a week, indeed. What former Us Weekly owner, Jann Wenner, said to Vicci Rose years ago, when describing the difference between Us Weekly and its prime competitor at the time, still remains valid to the VP/CRO today: you know, a lot can happen in a week. Since before the Internet and during Jann Wenner’s ownership of the magazine, Vicci Rose has been publisher of Us Weekly. And when it comes to celebrities and entertainment, her knowledge is vast and her opinion strong on both the category and the frequency of her brand: “The fact remains, whether it’s Us Weekly or some of our key competitors, we are able to provide a tremendous amount of paid circulated copies every single week.”

And indeed she is right, with her quoted amount of paid copies sold per week: just under two million copies, and her intense belief that all that is needed in the world of advertisement and magazines is for the two to come to an understanding about the continued value of print and the continued synchronization of digital with the legacy platform. It’s really as simple as that and as complex, as some advertisers are still seeking that pot of gold at the end of the digital rainbow. But being Print Proud Digital Smart has never been more important to her and her brand.

I spoke with Vicci recently and we talked about all of the above, and about the transition of ownership of the brand to American Media, Inc., and how her role as publisher, now chief revenue officer, has evolved over her many years in the business. While the core objective has remained the same, forming those strong bonds with agencies and clients, Vicci said today her job is always effected by the rapid changes within the industry. But if anybody can roll with the punches, it’s Vicci Rose. She is strong, dedicated and committed 100 percent to the continued success of Us Weekly.

So, I hope that you enjoy this delightful conversation with an equally delightful woman who believes that as long as Us Weekly remains current and relevant in the world of celebrities and entertainment, the brand’s present and future success is safe, the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Vicci Rose, VP/chief revenue officer, Us Weekly.

But first the sound-bites:

On how her role as chief revenue officer, publisher, has changed since the dawn of the digital age: Some of the evolution in my role is imposed by the rapid change in the industry. And another very important part of it is Us being more introspective to determine how we can keep pace with the rapidly changing world first and foremost, if we are truthfully driven by our audiences, which in turn then we promote and engage with our advertisers. So, I think in the initial stages of the role of publisher, and it was very much publisher, focused on the audience, the circulation, the advertisers’ interest in that audience to affect their objectives and strategies, etc. That’s always at the heart of what we do.

On why she thinks advertisers are so enamored by digital advertising in light of recent media reports on Bots and fake ads: I do feel we just have to temper the industry’s excitement. And there are certain advertisers that rushed into the digital world, and so because we could measure it, thought that it would have the measurement that they wanted. But if we continue to see that click-through rates are a fraction of a percent, there isn’t an advertiser out there that could believe that is a success metric, where at the same time any of the more traditional quantitative research in print, Starch for example, shows tremendous awareness, tremendous activity levels, as a result of engaging with the ads. And that continues, even in the face of such tremendous, widespread access to digital.

On finding new ways or creating new ways to engage with the advertisers and serve the customers and readers at the same time: It began first with positioning ads in relevant editorial. And that evolution of the positioning of the ads in relevant editorial became enhanced promotional pages and what we used to call advertorial pages. And today it’s a much more sophisticated translation of that original objective, which is branded and custom content as well as sponsored content. We are pursuing all of the avenues to allow our clients a better connection, a stronger connection, which includes social media components, but the translation of that has been a particularly productive avenue for Us Weekly over the years.

On her response when people say the entire celebrity genre and the weekly genre has no future in print: I totally disagree. The fact remains, whether it’s Us Weekly or some of our key competitors, we are able to provide a tremendous amount of paid circulated copies every single week. You just have to look at Us Weekly and People magazine. Again, the landscape has changed, where today not as much of our sales are at retail as they were before, but our average customer is paying roughly $70, that’s the actual price paid, for our subscription; for 52 weeks a year. And we’re able to sustain the circulation and in fact, the advertising, for 52 copies per year. And almost all of our weekly competitors in the entertainment and celebrity space are able to do that as well.

On why she feels there are less success stories, such as Us Weekly’s, in the media today and more doom and gloom magazine predictions: The proliferation of new products, new digital products, new software; the average CMO (chief marketing officer) today would be bombarded by not just six or seven entertainment magazines and 10 fashion and beauty magazines and the Seven Sisters. I mean, they are bombarded with thousands of alternatives today. So, I think in many cases, the decisions and the interaction with the publishing community has really been largely deferred to the advertising agencies. And they too have taken on such tremendous responsibility, as well as seeking new revenue streams.

On the analogy that digital was the seductive mistress when it burst upon the scene and print was always the steadfast spouse: (Laughs) Well, it’s interesting, there’s no question that digital, when it’s done right and with integrity…I always think, how did we end up here? The publishers have always had these tremendously solid relationships with our agencies and with our clients. And so, how did we lose so badly? You’re anecdote here is a perfect one for this because here we were, loyal, supportive; all of the editorial mentions that the editor is independent of commercial investment. And the support we’ve given over the years, yet, there was this shiny new object, the one that was thought to be the more exciting of the two.

On what someone would find her doing if they showed up unexpectedly one evening at her home: If you came to my house, you would probably find me somehow connected with my work. While I’m probably not proud to say it, other than my family and my twins, who are turning 21 soon, I am really totally immersed in what I do. But luckily that immersion does include a very significant and substantial immersion in pop culture and entertainment. I see a tremendous amount of movies; I watch a tremendous amount of television across the full spectrum: broadcast, cable, streaming.

On what she would have tattooed upon her brain that would be there forever and no one could ever forget about her: I think I’d like to have people think of me as their partner, a real consultative, professional who is dedicated and enthusiastic about what I do 12 and 14 hours per day. And that they can trust me to be a really committed and productive partner. I think that’s true with my dedication and my commitment in everything I do. I’d like that to be my legacy.

On what keeps her up at night: Two things, I have to be honest. One is, as we said earlier, how do we get the market to see the true value of print, which is there for them to see, it’s just a question of breaking through. And the other side of the equation, which is something that does plague all of us in the business, not only on the print side but also on the pure play digital, how do we accelerate the adoption of audiences to pay for the content they are consuming? Some are doing it well, others are doing it even more brilliantly, but as an industry we have not yet after 20 years or more, we have not as an industry solved this challenge.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Vicci Rose, VP/chief revenue officer, Us Weekly.

Samir Husni: You’ve seen it all in this industry. As a brand that has its cornerstone in print as Us Weekly does, how would you describe the change in your role as a chief revenue officer, as a publisher, from the dawn of the digital age until now?

Vicci Rose: Some of the evolution in my role is imposed by the rapid change in the industry. And another very important part of it is Us being more introspective to determine how we can keep pace with the rapidly changing world first and foremost, if we are truthfully driven by our audiences, which in turn then we promote and engage with our advertisers. So, I think in the initial stages of the role of publisher, and it was very much publisher, focused on the audience, the circulation, the advertisers’ interest in that audience to affect their objectives and strategies, etc. That’s always at the heart of what we do.

I can honestly say today that core objective is at the heart of the role of chief revenue officer. I do feel there is a difference in perspective, however, because growing up in our industry and our business, making the transition from the media side, media planning, at Benton & Bowles, where I worked with leading advertisers like Procter & Gamble, at the time it was called General Foods, the role of ad sales and publisher or management was very much about connecting the advertiser to the audience, in a very pure connection in that way.

Over the last decade or so more, it’s really about that consultative sales part of that equation. We could be far more creative over the last decade or two than ever before. We were engaged in a much more significant relationship, in terms of having a better understanding of what that client wanted to achieve. And through that process we built more comprehensive programs, again, using the media or the various components of our brand.

Us Weekly, as an example, went into the mobile space back in 2002 because it really didn’t require a significant investment, and I at the time as publisher had to determine how much of our resources could go into a forward-thinking medium. So, as I sit here today as chief revenue officer, that core objective is at the heart of what I do, but I do have to be so much more aware of a much broader platform. I have to be knowledgeable with not just my audience and how they engage, but where they engage. And where, as you just said, will we be engaging them in the next week or in the next month? (Laughs)

And I would honestly say tactically, we used to look at three and five-year plans regularly; today I hardly ever look at a five-year plan because I have to be really concerned with the three-month plan and the six-month plan and the 12-month plan. My role is that much more urgent and immediate, in terms of everything we do. We have to be far more concerned with the actual performance metric, that has been a very dramatic change in our responsibility to our clients.

And we’re under tremendous pressure to prove daily the power of print and the importance of print. In fact, I have a presentation coming up to one of the major agencies and one of the top ten clients in the industry to prove the power of print using many of the components from the very productive presentation that the MPA has designed, that magazines tell and sell. And then we adopt some of that information and translate it for our clients and how their product categories and their particular products have actually seen increases in consumption in magazine audiences.

My responsibility today is not just to connect clients and audiences, but really to prove that there is a powerful and productive connection and ultimately to help set up the ROI that they will achieve. In a long-winded way, my role has changed a lot, but there are still some core things that drive me every day in my role.

Samir Husni: Recently, I interviewed the president of Meredith Magazines, Doug Olson, and he was amazed and surprised that with all the data and with everything that print can offer, and with the stories that have been in the news lately about fake ads and all the Bots looking at the digital ads, he was amazed that some advertisers still have this strong belief in digital? Do you think the industry will ever overcome that newness of digital and see the return of the tangible ROI in the magazine business?

Vicci Rose: I’m a great fan of digital and I’m a big supporter. Us Weekly has a very sizeable print footprint with just under two million copies, 1,968,000 per week is our most recent AAM (Alliance For Audited Media) statement for the six months ending December 2017, so of course, we’re big believers in print. And I am incredulous with the number of conversations that I have with agencies and clients in acknowledging that their own research with media-mix modeling, etc. will point to a strong ROI, but it’s not in fashion, so the industry is often plagued with people who are concerned for their jobs because they’re not forward-thinking enough.

So, I would agree with Mr. Olson, yes. I am constantly surprised, especially in light of the fact that print for most of our clients works and has been proven to work. But at the same time I do feel that the digital component, and when I say digital, I mean the whole spectrum of digital, digital video, social media, mobile; all of those platforms add such a tremendous conduit to audiences, both our existing audiences, but more importantly to new audiences.

I do feel we just have to temper the industry’s excitement. And there are certain advertisers that rushed into the digital world, and so because we could measure it, thought that it would have the measurement that they wanted. But if we continue to see that click-through rates are a fraction of a percent, there isn’t an advertiser out there that could believe that is a success metric, where at the same time any of the more traditional quantitative research in print, Starch for example, shows tremendous awareness, tremendous activity levels, as a result of engaging with the ads. And that continues, even in the face of such tremendous, widespread access to digital.

So, I would agree with him. I do feel though that in the last year, year and a half, since many of our industry leaders on the client side are expressing concern again, not a wholesale withdrawal, but a concern. I do think there is a tempering of that willingness to try anything new at all costs and take on tremendous risk. And I have seen, in fact, in our presentation, that there are about 30 advertisers out there that have actually pulled away from print, then came back to print in a significant way and are actually growing their print. And there are many new research tools that will help us. In fact, thinking about Meredith, they were among the first companies to go into the Nielsen Catalina study and be able to, through some complexity, but be able to show their advertisers that there is significant ROI in print-based programs.

Samir Husni: You’ve been very creative in dealing with your clients and with advertisers. Can you talk a little bit about the new ways of getting revenue and advertising, rather than the traditional: we’ll sell you a page here or we’ll send you something on digital? What are you doing in terms of finding new ways or creating new ways to engage with the advertisers and to serve your customers and readers at the same time?

Vicci Rose: We actually started this back, I would probably say, at Mademoiselle magazine when there was first this opportunity to better engage our audience with some creative projects. And then pulling together the marketing team and really working with the clients to try to recognize more of the context and the relevance of the messaging. At first it began clearly with just positioning. It wasn’t just, let’s call it the Campbell’s Soup position that it used to be called in the women’s service area, the left-hand page opening the main editorial well and it didn’t really matter what the context of that adjacency was.

So, it began first with positioning ads in relevant editorial. And that evolution of the positioning of the ads in relevant editorial became enhanced promotional pages and what we used to call advertorial pages. And today it’s a much more sophisticated translation of that original objective, which is branded and custom content as well as sponsored content. We are pursuing all of the avenues to allow our clients a better connection, a stronger connection, which includes social media components, but the translation of that has been a particularly productive avenue for Us Weekly over the years.

And I think the reason why we’ve been able to see this as a very particularly productive channel for us, meaning the branded or custom content channel, is because we are able to work with the clients, really better understand what their objectives are. At times, because we’re dealing with celebrity and entertainment, we have to remind the client of what those objectives are and make sure that they adhere to what they originally thought was the objective and not get all caught up in the excitement of working with entertainment and celebrity.

But again, the importance of that I think has never been clearer than it is today with the new audiences. As you mentioned, that younger customer coming into media with very different expectations, with a very different landscape, and a very different appraisal of advertising and how they react to advertising. How they feel about companies and their promise, typically made in a classic ad.

So, we have this fantastic opportunity to work with our clients to really understand where their objectives converge with the interest of an audience. It takes it to a much purer level for me as a chief revenue officer, and still at heart a publisher. That’s the most exciting part of our business and what keeps so many of us active. It’s the creativity, but always knowing that it’s only creative if it satisfies that client’s objective.

So, yes, Us Weekly has had a very, very big stake in sponsored content and branded and custom content. In fact, the articles that you may be reading had recognized some of the programs that we triggered recently, first with the paper and packaging board, with the GRAMMY’s and being able to include them in a big GRAMMY-based initiative; Music’s Biggest Night, it was not formerly working with the GRAMMY’s, but again, being able to recognize and have some contextual relevance to awards programming.

And then most recently, with the completion now of the Olympics, we were able to align our client Nutrish with Olympics programming. So, context and relevance, as classically done by ad-placement in magazines, is now on steroids. (Laughs)

And we created a custom video with Kelli Stack, who was an Olympian, and she rescued some dogs from Sochi, when she was last participating in the Winter Olympics there. And we were able to sit down with her and understand how these wonderful animals helped her and her training, her relaxation, and her motivation. And it was a win-win with tremendous results. In fact, the contest, it was a user-generated contest where you provided pictures of your Olym-pet, and the votes were just under 900.000 in two weeks. It was very exciting.

Samir Husni: You mentioned the celebrity environment of Us Weekly has almost two million copies every week. What’s your response when people say the entire celebrity genre and the weekly genre has no future in print?

Vicci Rose: I totally disagree. The fact remains, whether it’s Us Weekly or some of our key competitors, we are able to provide a tremendous amount of paid circulated copies every single week. You just have to look at Us Weekly and People magazine. Again, the landscape has changed, where today not as much of our sales are at retail as they were before, but our average customer is paying roughly $70, that’s the actual price paid, for our subscription; for 52 weeks a year. And we’re able to sustain the circulation and in fact, the advertising, for 52 copies per year. And almost all of our weekly competitors in the entertainment and celebrity space are able to do that as well.

We do have a number of competitors that have double issues and so have lowered their frequency, but it’s still in the mid to high 40s, forty copies going out there. In fact, and this is fact not fiction, there is an audience out there buying hundreds of thousands of copies a week in our space, when the suggestion is that they could be getting much of this content online for free. So, there’s clearly a perspective, a point of view, a treatment, a community of celebrities that we include; how we approach them and frankly, how each one of these properties addresses this audience, is different.

To the untrained eye it may not be apparent, but our duplication among the magazines, let’s say, each one of us has a different statistic, but it’s between 15 and 18 percent on average, which in the scheme of things is very, very low in terms of duplication. If you look at some of the fashion/beauty books, some of those duplications can be in the 30 percentiles or women’s service books, again between 20 and 30 percent duplication.

So, the fact remains that our category is still quite vibrant and able to sustain this number of magazines every week. And I would tell you that Us Weekly, I do believe and continue to believe, that Us Weekly’s continued success, which originated with Jann Wenner’s initial vision for Us Weekly, remains today, 18 years later. We launched as a weekly 18 years ago in March, it’s hard to believe.

But today what drives us weekly and one of Jann’s initial comments to me, in terms of how he saw Us Weekly differing from our prime competitor at that time and even today, People magazine, is that he said, you know, a lot can happen in a week. And if we continue to focus our editorial perspective and objective on that kind of currency, in things that happen here and now, we will continue to win. And that has been a driving piece of our brand equity even today.

If you come on Us Weekly’s site on The Stylish channel, one of our strongest portfolios is called About Last Night, and it is a photo gallery of celebrities and what they looked like, fashion and beauty, in real time, updated every day. Or if it’s in the pages of Us Weekly, most of that editorial content happened in the last five to seven days. And if there is a rare occasion where a story isn’t yet fully baked or we decided that there’s something else that needed to go in its place, we rarely post that story only to run it the following week, because it won’t have the same sense of currency and urgency that it needs to have.

And that’s how Us Weekly continues to stay relevant to our audience. And integrity also drives that, or transitioning overtime, integrity, credibility, those are the demands of our audience. And as long as we continue to provide true news in an era of fake news, I think we will continue to thrive as we are today.

Samir Husni: Why are there less of your success stories out there in the media, in the general magazine media environment, than all of the doom and gloom stories that we hear about magazines and magazine media?

Vicci Rose: The proliferation of new products, new digital products, new software; the average CMO (chief marketing officer) today would be bombarded by not just six or seven entertainment magazines and 10 fashion and beauty magazines and the Seven Sisters. I mean, they are bombarded with thousands of alternatives today. So, I think in many cases, the decisions and the interaction with the publishing community has really been largely deferred to the advertising agencies. And they too have taken on such tremendous responsibility, as well as seeking new revenue streams.

And so I think the combination of the proliferation of alternatives, squeezing the dollars allocated to marketing, and again, we have a lot of clients that now within their marketing channel have so many objectives, high funnel, low funnel, where they’re judged, how they’re judged, how the executives themselves are compensated.

I think you’re very right, and frankly, this is what keeps me up at night. My greatest concern is how do I break through? How do we as an industry break through? How do we gain the attention of the ultimate decision makers for the funds? Thankfully we have a very strong leader in Linda Thomas Brooks at the MPA, and she has tremendous client-side perspective, agency-side perspective, and I think she’s doing an incredible job at breaking through that gauntlet.

But we’re not there yet. And I think we need very resilient and tenacious leaders in our industry who understand and will make this effort daily. And with no change in our resolve. Working with Linda and seeing her new presentation has given me personally the resolve and my team the resolve.

And as I mentioned to you, we have now adapted our presentation to include many of the facts and the findings that the MPA has given us. And I would tell you that in the last couple of weeks, since we decided to redirect a portion of our efforts to the “why print” equation, it’s always been implicit in what we’re selling, but now it’s “why print” as part of the larger picture. We have had tremendous response on both the strategy side of the agencies and certain key clients. We’re very, very excited about what we’re seeing now.

And it may be good timing. As you said earlier, there are many clients that are scratching their heads and saying, oh my gosh, we rushed into digital and now we have to think about where that true balance should be. And we may be coming in at just the right time to help them see that the balance is the prudent course.

Samir Husni: I tell my students that when digital exploded onto the scene in 2008, she became the mistress that no one could resist, while print was that faithful and steadfast spouse. People began spending all of that money on the mistress, digital, meanwhile there was the spouse, print, asking the question: what is she giving you for your money?

Vicci Rose: (Laughs) Well, it’s interesting, there’s no question that digital, when it’s done right and with integrity…I always think, how did we end up here? The publishers have always had these tremendously solid relationships with our agencies and with our clients. And so, how did we lose so badly? You’re anecdote here is a perfect one for this because here we were, loyal, supportive; all of the editorial mentions that the editor is independent of commercial investment. And the support we’ve given over the years, yet, there was this shiny new object, the one that was thought to be the more exciting of the two.

But I do feel that there is tremendous value. Us Weekly alone, for example, our own Google Analytics are roughly 30-35 million unique visitors a month that come to Us Weekly. But they go 350-400 million pages deep in our site. In fact, we are thrilled, we’ve worked really hard to develop the kind of relationship in the digital platform that would allow this audience, not only to come to usmagazine.com, but to come daily, multiple times per day.

But we do believe that there is a different experience, that the reader or the visitor has very different expectations when they come digitally. There are so many pages, there are so many galleries and videos. And when they come to the pages of the magazine, they have a much more curated view. Tina Brown once said that when she starts at the front of the magazine and she ends at the end of Us Weekly, she knows everything that she needs to know about those 20 to 30 people that everyone is talking about right now. It was many years ago that she stated that, but that’s still true today.

So, there is a different promise in the pages of the magazine than there is in digital, which allows us to really update the information minute-by-minute. And our content leadership, Dylan Howard, Jen Peros, our Style and Beauty director, Gwen Flamberg; they’ve done a tremendous job at really delivering on that expectation on the part of our audience. Far surpassing my expectations in a relatively short period of time since we transitioned to AMI’s ownership.

And while it was a challenging transition just in moving from one corporate culture to another, the commitment was very clear from the get-go. David (Pecker) understood the difference in our property; he understood how important the relationship with our digital audience was and continued to allow us to invest time, energy and resources in delivering. And I’m very excited to say that February, while the comScore for February isn’t out yet, it should be one of our largest comScore audiences in the last five years.

Samir Husni: If I showed up unexpectedly at your home one evening after work, what would I find you doing? Having a glass of wine; reading a magazine; cooking; watching TV; or something else?

Vicci Rose: I think all of the above. (Laughs) If you came to my house, you would probably find me somehow connected with my work. While I’m probably not proud to say it, other than my family and my twins, who are turning 21 soon, I am really totally immersed in what I do. But luckily that immersion does include a very significant and substantial immersion in pop culture and entertainment. I see a tremendous amount of movies; I watch a tremendous amount of television across the full spectrum: broadcast, cable, streaming.

I do have my projects that I’m absolutely obsessed with and I look forward to them and I support that through some of the social media that I see. I am also obsessed with cooking and that landscape, both digitally and in print. And if I go to bed at night, even if I may turn off the lights between midnight and 2:00 a.m., I’m always reading a book, if albeit only a very few pages before I go to sleep.

So, I would tell you that is where I find my personal enjoyment, and the boring of the lines between work and relaxation are just fine with me.

Samir Husni: If you could have one thing tattooed upon your brain that no one would ever forget about you, what would it be?

Vicci Rose: I think I’d like to have people think of me as their partner, a real consultative, professional who is dedicated and enthusiastic about what I do 12 and 14 hours per day. And that they can trust me to be a really committed and productive partner. I think that’s true with my dedication and my commitment in everything I do. I’d like that to be my legacy.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Vicci Rose: Two things, I have to be honest. One is, as we said earlier, how do we get the market to see the true value of print, which is there for them to see, it’s just a question of breaking through. And the other side of the equation, which is something that does plague all of us in the business, not only on the print side but also on the pure play digital, how do we accelerate the adoption of audiences to pay for the content they are consuming? Some are doing it well, others are doing it even more brilliantly, but as an industry we have not yet after 20 years or more, we have not as an industry solved this challenge.

So, that is another one that keeps me up at night as I watch more and more of my audience, and I’m thrilled to see the growth in those audiences, but the burden on advertising is just too great to sustain it for the next 20 or 30 years.

Samir Husni: Thank you.