Martha Nelson speaks onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in 2013. Joe Ripp assured me nothing would change and, on the outside looking in, it appears he was speaking the truth.īut now, without someone standing guard over those titles, there is the very real possibility that the Koch brothers could meddle in, say, Time magazine’s journalism. If that seismic shift did affect the editorial independence of Time, Fortune, or People, I doubt any readers noticed. The symbolic move must have made a difference. Now that responsibility rests in your hands. While the miter was passed on in jest, it symbolized the earnest belief in editorial independence, truth and integrity.
She cut the pope’s hat into pieces, framed them and sent the framed pieces to the editors with a note saying: This fragment comes from the 'Pope's Miter,' which resided in the office of the editor in chief of Time Inc. One exasperated editor shouted at me: “THIS IS A BIG FUCKING DEAL!”Ī couple weeks later, editors at the company’s magazines and websites received a parting gift from Nelson. executive once candidly referred to the hat as a “yoke” because it prevented editors from thinking like marketers. A permanent fixture in that person’s office was a Pope’s miter-a pope’s hat, in other words-that served as a symbol of the importance of keeping pure its editorial content. The magazine editors reported to this person, and he or she was charged with protecting the editorial integrity of the various publications. was once a storied part of the company, so much so that one of its top executives was Editor in Chief (of the company, not of a specific brand). decision in 2013-one that few, if any readers knew about-that could make the Koch’s meddling a very real possibility. Recent reports have suggested Murdoch is doing just that when it comes to the Journal’s coverage of the Trump White House (which the paper has denied). Rupert Murdoch insisted he wouldn’t meddle in The Wall Street Journal’s journalism. The Kochs said they won’t hold any editorial influence over Time Inc. In Trump, the Kochs have a more complicated relationship: David and Charles didn’t support him during the general election, but there’s reportedly been a detenteīetween the mega-donors and the president of late.
Their deep pockets, for instance, helped Scott Walker win and retain the governorship of Wisconsin, where he’s gutted labor unions, a major Koch priority. But Sunday's Meredith-Time deal was partly financed by the private equity arm of David and Charles Koch, billionaire brothers from Kansas who've shaped modern conservatism with their donations. Normally, this kind of dealmaking wouldn’t matter much to subscribers. It came very close to selling to Meredith in 2013, but the deal collapsed because Meredith didn’t want the newsier titles like Time.ĭavid Koch pictured in 2012.
Now that the returns had diminished, Time Warner was unloading print. The magazines had served as a form of ATM machine for Time Warner, helping to fund the development of HBO. Starting in 2012, Time Warner sought to rid itself of the magazine division because it was no longer as profitable as it once was. was part of Time Warner, the media behemoth that owns Warner Brothers, HBO, and CNN-the same company that AT&T is now trying to buy. On Sunday, Time Inc.-which owns Time, People, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, and several other magazines-was sold to Meredith, owner of magazines like Better Homes and Gardens, for about $3 billion. If the Postal Service had been for sale, Time Inc. The forest, which the company held for 30 years, was a symbol of the organization's power: It owned the very source of its influence-the very paper that its magazines printed ink on.
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