AMI Has New CFO, and more people news...with Evan Cook

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BREAKING NEWS & VIEWS

AMI Has New CFO, and more people news...with Evan Cook
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Evan Cook

American Media Brings On Dean Durbin as Executive VP and CFO
American Media Inc., publisher of Men’s Fitness, the National Enquirer, Flex, and Shape, among others, has hired on former Vertis Communications CEO Dean Durbin as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Durbin, who has also worked in B2B publishing with Thomson and McGraw-Hill, replaces Jack Craven, who resigned this week but will remain a consultant. He will be AMI’s sixth CFO in four years.

It has been suggested that Durbin’s experience in M&A might be a key reason for his appointment, in light of a long-rumored sale. Source Interlink has expressed interest in AMI, but botched financial reporting on the part of AMI has reportedly been an obstacle to the deal.

Omnicom’s Sean Finnegan Named CMO at Vibrant Media
Vibrant Media, a video and contextual advertising network, has announced the hire of Sean Finnegan, most recently CEO of Omnicom Media Group Digital, as chief media officer. Finnegan will be charged with overseeing marketing, business development, and product innovation for the company.

Finnegan has received a number of awards during his tenure at Omnicom, including a Media Week All Star, an induction into the AAF Advertising Hall of Achievement, and a spot as one of min magazine’s 21 Most Intriguing People in 2006. He began his career in the early ‘90s at BBDO New York, but soon switched to new media, working for agencies like Darwin Digital and APL Digital. He spent two years as director of advertising and business development for AllAdvantage.com before joining TribalDDB as media director. Finnegan formed OMD from the combined media units of DDB, BBDO, TBWA Chiat Day and Rapp Collins.

Keeping Tabs on the Intriguings

RD Hires Blueprint’s Tom Prince as Executive Editor
Peggy Northrop, editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest magazine since leaving More last fall, has made her first hire with the appointment of Tom Prince, formerly president and development editor at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, as executive editor of RD. While at MSLO, Prince conceived and oversaw the ill-fated Blueprint magazine, which launched in 2006 and has since been absorbed into Martha Stewart Weddings.

Before joining MSLO, Prince served as an executive editor at Real Simple for three years, prior to which he had spent seven with Allure. He started his career at New York Magazine, where he was named deputy editor in 1994.

Bob Mattone Named Publisher for New Health Mag from PGA
The Tennessee-based Publishing Group of America, which publishes newspaper supplements such as Profile and Relish, has hired on Bob Mattone as publisher for Spry, a forthcoming health title. Mattone has served as New York sales manager for TV Guide since 2003. PGA, bought by Bain Capital partners in September, claims that the scheduled September launch of Spry will be the “largest health magazine launch of all time,” as the magazine, also a newspaper supplement, will have a monthly circulation of nine million. The 2000 debut of American Profile, which boasts a circulation of 8 million, had been advertised as the “second largest publishing launch in U.S. history.”

1105 Names David Myers VP, Event Operations
1105 Media has announced that David Myers, most recently general manager of the Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A., has been brought as VP of event operations for the B2B publisher, which produces FOSE, FETC, GovSec, CPM, VS Live!, Techmentor, Rechargers World Expo, and a number of other events. Myers has also served as vice president of events for Petersen Publishing Company, as well as VP of marketing for The Promotion Company.

Everyday with Rachael Ray Names Executive Editor
Theresa O’Rourke, previously deputy editor at Cosmopolitan, has been appointed executive editor for Every Day with Rachael Ray, published by the Reader’s Digest Association. O’Rourke also served as senior editor at Cosmo from 2002 to 2003 and features editor at Allure from 2003 to 2005. She has also contributed to Real Simple, InStyle, Women's Health, Marie Claire and Shape.

Sischy Leaves Interview After Almost Two Decades as EIC
Ingrid Sischy, the highly regarded editor-in-chief of lifestyle magazine Interview since 1990, left her post last week after Interview co-owner Sandra Brant sold her 50% share of Brant Publications. Read minonline’s full coverage here, here, and here (premium).

Tom Larranaga Elevated to Publisher of Nation’s Restaurant News
B2B publisher Lebhar-Friedman Inc. has announced the appointment of Tom Larranaga, formerly associate publisher and national sales manager of Nation’s Restaurant News, as publisher of the foodservice industry title. Larranaga, who joined Lebhar-Friedman in 2006, has been moved up to take the place of Alan Gould, who, after leading NRN for 14 years, as well as serving as vice president of Lebhar-Friedman, has resigned to work with several non-profit and educational groups.

Entrepreneur Names New Sales Managers
Entrepreneur magazine, which targets business owners, has added two sales managers to its East and West Coast teams. Jennifer Dobbeck, previously an account manager for Niche Media, will become a regional sales manager on the East Coast, while Kate Stoodley, most recently a regional sales manager in luxury goods, will join the West Coast team as Northwest account manager.

Fortune Appoints Stephanie Mehta Global Editor
Fortune magazine announced this week that Stephanie Mehta, previously a senior writer with the magazine, will serve as global editor, a newly-created position, effective immediately. Mehta wrote a good deal of international features as a senior writer. Prior to joining Fortune, she was an assistant news editor at The Wall Street Journal, where she worked on technology stories.

If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com

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