Shhh..don’t Google this story. It is causing a firestorm for Port magazine…as well as some new found attention. I can only assume that it started innocently, probably at a staff meeting with someone saying, “Hey let’s do a story about print magazines and the new ‘golden age.’ Port magazine had just celebrated its two year anniversary and things must have been giddy in the offices. So a summer issue was planned and the list of male editors was whittled down to seven. A week ago, it hit the newsstands with a teaser online showcasing the cover and touting “world-exclusive interviews with seven of the biggest magazine editors in America on the future of magazine publishing.” [I’m not sure who the editor is that’s missing on the cover. Guess you have to buy the magazine].
Port’s editor Dan Crowe writes, “There is no doubt about it: we are entering a new golden age of magazine publishing, an age where the magazine is supported by the website and app. It’s this ‘support’ that people thought would be the death of the magazine. In fact, with the ‘cross media platform’ working well, it’s formidable to have a magazine, a format that readers and advertisers still adore.”
I liked it. I completely understand what Crowe is saying. On the cover of this “global quarterly men’s magazine,” are six top editors standing under the headline, ‘A NEW GOLDEN AGE.”
Adam Moss, editor-in-chief of New York magazineJosh Tyrangiel, editor of Bloomberg BusinessweekHugo Lindgren, editor of The New York Times magazineGraydon Carter, editor of Vanity FairScott Dadich, editor-in-chief of WiredJim Nelson, editor-in-chief of GQAs a woman, I don’t subscribe to Port, “the magazine for men,” but the story came through my Google alerts and the cover intrigued me…until I started reading the copy associated with it on thejanedough.com, written by Colette McIntyre,“So, just to reiterate: not only were there no female editors pictured on the cover, there was just one female editor quoted in the entire piece.” And, Colette was not alone.
Alyssa Rosenberg wrote about it, too. You can find it at Slate.com under the headline, “Magazine Heralds a New Golden Age of Print With Six Old White Guys on Its Cover.” Ouch.
The DailyBeast.com’s headline touted, “It’s a Golden Age (for Men): Male editors dominate magazine cover.”
Port, the magazine for men, just can’t catch a break. These six men certainly are part of a Golden Age, but they aren’t alone. In fact, if there is room for outrage, I would think it might come from several influential men left off the list – James Bennett, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic for one. Port even demoted Moss, Dadich and Nelson, all editors-in-chief to editors on their cover.
Crowe wrote, “world-exclusive interviews with seven of the biggest magazine editors in America on the future of magazine publishing.” He’s right. These men are some of “the biggest magazine editors in America,” There are also women, but the magazine is a lifestyle pub for men, not a print industry magazine for editors.
Still, should I be outraged?