Pecker-Loving Star Editor Fired by Pecker

Earlier this year, we heard rumors of a revolt brewing among dissatisfied employees at AMI, publisher of Star and The National Enquirer. This prompted every last AMI editor and executive to email us, insisting in the most strenuous terms that AMI is just fine! For example, Star editor Candace Trunzo (pictured, at…
Robert Thomson Isn't Going Anywhere
In your fleeting Wednesday media column: Robert Thomson is staying put, new offices for the HuffPo, ironic union troubles at Harper's, David Pecker is beloved without ever ordering anyone to love him, and A.J. Daulerio, profiled.
AMI Executives Agree: Everything's Fine at AMI
Yesterday we told you that a revolt may be brewing at National Enquirer publisher AMI, where employees are upset about furloughs, layoffs, and perceived management screw-ups following its recent bankruptcy. Did we get some feedback from AMI execs? Did we!
Is a Revolt Brewing at AMI?
American Media Inc., publisher of the National Enquirer and Star, is freshly emerged from bankruptcy, and already cutting costs with layoffs and mandatory unpaid furloughs. Now, we hear AMI's beleaguered employees are on the verge of total revolt.
National Enquirer Publisher Going Bankrupt
American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer and Star, has been working for over a year to wiggle out of its crushing debts without bankruptcy. It didn't work: the company will be declaring bankruptcy in the next two weeks. [NYP]
Super Bowl Ratings, Commercials
• The broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII generated solid results for NBC, even though ratings were down 6% from last year. [THR]
• Super Bowl commercial hits and misses. [AdAge, NYT, AdWeek, AdAge]
• NBC reports its Super Bowl spots generated $206 million. [B&C]
• A last-minute deal will allow David Pecker to keep AMI out…
AMI Restructuring Wipes Out David Pecker
National Enquirer and Star publisher American Media has, for all practical purposes, gone bust. Although they left enough wiggle room to declare a successful non-bankruptcy!
Reprieve for Pecker, Bono's Op-Ed, Couric Speaks
• David Pecker's magazine empire may avoid bankruptcy after all. [NYP]
• The mood is expected to be bleak when Sundance kicks off next week. [WSJ]
• Discovery has signed Paula Zahn to create a weekly news show. [THR]
• An op-ed and podcast by Bono in the Times will debut on Sunday. [JR]
• Three more Politicker sites…
AMI Moving Towards Bankruptcy?
Is AMI going to go bankrupt? Nooooooooo! Do you know what that would mean: trouble for the new zombie version of Radar.com! Keith Kelly reports this morning that AMI, which publishes Star and the National Enquirer in addition to zombie Radar, missed a deadline on an interest payment and is "feverishly negotiating"…
Colmes Departs, Amanpour Scores, Forbes Denies
♦ Alan Colmes, the "liberal" who supposedly serves as co-host of Hannity & Colmes with Sean Hannity, is leaving the Fox News program at the end of the year. [HuffPo]
♦ A daily news program hosted by Christiane Amanpour is in the works at CNN. [NYT]
♦ Despite screwing up nearly everything he touches, NBC golden…
Tonight's Election Coverage (Now with 3D Holography!)
♦ Election returns may set TV viewing records tonight, assuming there's some "suspense." [AP]
♦ What's been on cable news channels all day? Mindless talk and speculation, for the most part. [TV Decoder]
♦ It's possible the networks will call the election before the polls close. [THR]
♦ Some of the high-tech…
AMI Buys RadarOnline.com
As rumored, AMI has bought the website RadarOnline.com, just as the print version of Radar folds. That, incongruously, puts the site under the same corporate umbrella as the celebrity mags Star and the National Enquirer, which may now become off-limits for mockery. The site will be "relaunched" in 2009. Judging from…
Convention Wrap-Up: Ratings, Analysis
Street Talk
AMI, Sirius, and the NYT
National Enquirer Publisher Desperate For Cash
It looks like American Media didn't cut its $2.4-million-per-year editorial chief Bonnie Fuller fast enough: the tabloid publisher is reportedly nearly broke, desperately trying to raise money before a bunch of junk bonds come due in February. Granted, those bonds are worth $415 million, so Fuller's salary is only a…
