Mark Pasetsky's Cover Awards

Last week, Kent Brownridge was suddenly gone from his post at Alpha Media.

This week he has inked a deal to serve as GM for OK! Magazine.

It’s a huge challenge but a terribly exciting one,” Brownridge tells the Post.  “In a terrible year for the industry, these guys are up on all fronts.

According to Brownridge, he plans on keeping current Publisher Tom Morrisey and Editor Sarah Ivens.

But, many will soon question if his former colleague Bonnie Fuller will make a return to the celebrity weekly space in some capacity.

When Bonnie left American Media, Brownrigde who famously worked with Fuller at Us Weekly,  was efusive with his praise saying:

“Bonnie has gotten a bad rap,” Brownridge told Portfolio. “Everywhere she’s gone she’s improved where they were measurably in a short period of time. We ought to be giving her a lifetime achievement award.”

He compared here to which famous football coach?

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This week’s People magazine’s cover story is “The Obama’s at Home”—a clear cut PR strategy to dispel rumors about Barack Obama’s personal life.

Bonnie Fuller sees this cover as a way to “present Michelle and Barack as the beloved Brangelina of the political world.”

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Us Weekly features Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon on its cover looking at trip vacation pics.

Hey, that could be me!

This cover is what Us Weekly is all about.

Stars really are like us. (Bonnie Fuller created that vision for Us Weekly and Janice Min continues to ride on her coattails.)

In the past, I haven’t been a fan of this story because I don’t think a lot of readers are talking about this couple.

But this cover photo is a winner and will walk off the newsstand. And, in the celebrity weekly category newsy photos like this are rare.

On another note, you can tell that the In Touch and Us Weekly did not have strong sales with the Madonna-A-Rod covers from last week.

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The NY Post is reporting that “talking head Julia Allison lost her editor-at-large gig at Star Magazine, where she was making an estimated 125K per year.”

She has once said, “I’m Carrie Bradshaw 2.0,” referring to the Sex and the City character. (Julia, I’ve met watched Carrie Bradshaw, and you are no Carrie Bradshaw.)

Allison, who was hired by the recently departed Bonnie Fuller, never did any writing for the mag, reports the Post. She simply appeared on TV.

Bonnie Fuller, who two weeks ago left American Media, is learning that finding backers to finance her latest attempt at reinvention isn’t so easy, reports the New York Post.

Fuller was trying to hook up with 3i, a global private-equity and venture-capital firm with more than $5.6 billion in assets, which counts media as one of the eight industries on which it focuses. However, that venture might have fizzled even before it got off the ground.

So where’s Bonnie now?

(NYP)

(Image via Splash)

Now American Media Inc. chief David Pecker is defending his former star editor’s $2 million salary, recapping her editing credentials and transformation of AMI’s Star magazine from a newspaper tabloid to a glossy celeb weekly in a crowded category, according to Mediaweek.

Pecker said of Fuller, who was editor of Wenner Media’s Us Weekly, then Star, “She put a major jolt in the celebrity market. I don’t think there’s anyone I know who was worth more money.”

Of course Mr. Pecker is defending Bonnie Fuller. It was his decision to bring her to AMI in the first place. It would look really bad if he would turn on her now, even after she’s gone. Don’t get me wrong. It’s actually nice to see him make these public statements of support - you don’t see that often in this category.

At least according to Alpha Media’s Kent Brownridge.

“Bonnie has gotten a bad rap,” Kent Brownridge said. “Everywhere she’s gone she’s improved where they were measurably in a short period of time. We ought to be giving her a lifetime achievement award.”

While Brownridge has said some nasty things in the past including calling Bonnie “computer illiterate,” today he obviously has a fresh perspective, reports Portfolio.

“I’m guilty of having said bad things about her,” Brownridge acknowledges. “She’s the Bill Parcells of publishing. Just like Parcells, everywhere she goes she pisses people off, but everywhere she goes she wins.”

What do you think of Brownridge’s statements?  Is he looking to hire Bonnie?  Or is he simply using her name to get in the press?

Thoughts?

Last week, Bonnie Fuller made headlines with her departure from American Media.

Many of the media sites - including this one - questioned and broke news about her next move.

Well, it didn’t take long for Janice Min to put her personal publicity machine in high-gear.

Seen above with her close friends Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Celebrity Weekly category let ABC News into the hallowed halls of Us Weekly and gave a quote like this one.

Janice Min says that Us Weekly has changed the way the celebrity beat is covered, showing “that it could actually be covered as news,” but she also adds that, “it’s just fun!”

Min also let Nightline into her offices to see how the magazine works. 

Prediction: Soon enough we’ll be seeing stories planted about Janice’s contract negotiations and how they’re not going well.

(Image via Splash)

Looks like the celebrity weekly editors can relax for now. It doesn’t look like Bonnie Fuller will be staying in the category.

According to industry insiders, Bonnie’s Fuller’s next gig WILL be in television.

Stay tuned for more details.

Pasetsky’s Cover Critique

Well, Jessica Simpson makes the cover of two national celebrity weeklies this week.

Janice Min’s Us Weekly takes a slightly different stance saying that Jessica is jealous over John Mayer’s relationship with Jen Aniston, where Life & Style simply says “friends fear she was dumped.”

While this story may be true, I firmly believe this cover will be a disaster for Us Weekly.

Here’s why:

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