Plus, What I Learned from the Experience

Mark with his dog Rocco enjoying his post-traditional publishing world life!

It has been almost a year since I left the traditional publishing world.

For those of those new to CoverAwards, I was the editor in chief of Life & Style and before that I launched the magazine as its general manager. The magazine became the fastest growing magazine on the newsstand. The magazine was also name the 2004 Magazine Launch of the Year by magazine guru Samir Husni.

Today, I’m going to share with you something that I’ve never spoken about publicly - which is how I felt being covered by the blogs, in particular Jossip, during my stint as editor in chief.

Background

But first, let me give you some background. I spent most of my career in PR and Marketing and was ready to make a change.

A few years ago, I was asked to launch Life & Style as the GM and was incredibly excited to take on this new challenge.

In particular, I loved developing the magazines covers because I simply love the art of magazine covers. My ex-Chris used to get so pissed because I would stop by every magazine newsstand in NYC and during our vacations simply to stare at the latest covers. (Kinda makes sense that I launched CoverAwards.)

A newsstand in France that I stopped by in October

Pasetsky Named Editor In Chief of Life & Style

After two and a half years, I was named the editor in chief of the magazine. While I had been involved in every aspect of the magazine from day one, many in the media world (as well as my staff) did not realize that.

What followed was a media onslaught unlike anything I had personally experienced or witnessed in my life.

Here are some of the excerpts from media site Jossip plus my thoughts:

Here’s what my staff thought of me:

This article claims “I wear eyeliner.”

Read my responses after the jump!

I might have worn it at a Halloween party - but the funny thing is that I’ve been asked if I wear eyeliner for years — and I don’t. My eyes just look dark — I guess. However, there’s nothing wrong with guys that do wear it.

“And at the bars that he does go to (solo) he spends his time hitting on hot young men while wearing – oh no, wait - I hope those hot young men are not distracted by Mark’s claim to run a “fashion bible!”

Anyone that knows me would know that I would never walk around “claiming to run a fashion bible.” And on going out solo and hitting on young men? Um. I’m single, live in Chelsea and go to bars. Shoot me.

“This man transforms from a pseudo-closeted “suit” to a gold chain wearing, muscle tee sportin’, backward hat rockin’ gym rat (and it is not a pretty sight).”

I even wore my hat backwards at a Mets game!

I’m not closeted. My chain was silver. And yes, I do wear t-shirts to the gym and have even worn my hat backwards. I admit I am a walking fashion disaster.

“Should I mention the creepy way he stands over the (few) hot male staffers (past and present)?

The designers works in cubes and I would often look at their screens. This was the translation submitted by an anonymous source.

Life & Style Editor’s Ousting not adding up:

This article pointed out my lack of experience - and the stories came from insiders who said all I knew was how to say, “Let’s focus on Britney’s divorce.”

Yeah, Britney was a big story.

Life & Style Staffers Not Showing Much Hope In New EIC Mark Pasetsky:

Wow - this was one of the more nasty pieces that claimed I had no editorial experience, was a marketing flunky and everyone was looking for work. Click here for my bio and you decide for yourself.

Pasetsky More Ruthless than Bonnie Fuller:

I’m not sure who was more upset by this comparison - myself or Bonnie Fuller? And, that photo of me in a cowboy hat at a Halloween party. I’ll never live that down.

The Life & Feng Shui of Mark Pasetsky: This is perhaps one of my favorite and funniest stories of my career. This alleges I brought in a feng shui expert to re-arrange the office. Truth be told, I did ask for advice from a colleague about redecorating the office to make it a better environment for everyone.

What I Learned

It’s been a long time now since these items were anonymously submitted by “my staff” and it’s still very difficult to read.

For months, I suffered through great personal depression and to top it off faced a serious health crisis (probably brought on by the stress — at least that’s what my friends thought.)

The good news. I’m feeling much better today.

Did any of that stuff matter? No.

Do I think it got way too personal? Yes.

Would I respond to these types of articles in the future? ABSOLUTELY. And that’s probably the biggest lesson I can share with you today.

In today’s digital media age, stuff like this spreads like wild fire and EVERYBODY READS IT. My responses today are WAY TOO LATE. Don’t let that happen to you!

Bottom Line:

CoverAwards makes every effort to focus on the product at hand - the covers of magazines, newspapers and web sites, e.g. critiques, polls, etc. We do not get involved in the personal lives of people. (Have I had my moments where even I crossed the line to some degree? Yes, I’m human and have made that mistake.)

But, this site’s mission is pretty simple. I want to provide the media community with a site that offers up the biggest stories of the day in media, celebrity and politics. We do that primarily by using the covers of some of the greatest magazines and newspapers in the country and the world as our platform for discussion.

And, I believe this type of environment will help “sell copies,” which is incredible. Especially — if you love magazines and newspapers as much as I do.

In closing, many of you might be wondering why I brought up all this stuff today. I can’t answer that. It just felt like the time was right.

Thanks for reading.

Mark

Posted by: Mark Pasetsky

Email this article