Gawker: jim kaminsky

Jann Wenner Is Preggers! Jann Wenner Says He Is An Extraordinarily Talented, Prescient Individual!

Maggie — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:00:13 EDT

Rolling Stone and Us Weekly owner Jann Wenner and his partner, Matt Nye, (for whom he dropped his wife, Jane) are expecting twins in January, according to Business Week's Jon Fine. The newest little Wenners will join his current army of four. But this party is just beginning—the interview transcript is something to behold. Some highlights!

Don't even try to start a magazine today; Wenner says it's impossible. Besides financing and publishing support, "you need, at the center of it, some extraordinarily talented, prescient individual. Such as I was." Oh!
Wenner regrets selling Outside magazine. He does not give a shit about the Internets.
On US Weekly: "As trivial you may think the subject matter is, it is a really well-executed product, with high standards of writing and wit and photography and design."
Awkward moment: Fine: "I want to pull back for a minute, and go back to the view from 30,000 feet—" to which Wenner replies: "I like it when I'm seeing you 30,000 feet." Fine: "Ha."
If he could go back 20 years and see himself now ? "I'd think, Wow. I'd think, how incredible. What a lucky guy. What great writing. He's covering all that music I like. He's friends with all those people. He gets to go to all the great concerts. God. What a fantastic job. Which is exactly what 21-year-olds think of me right now...Honestly, [the 21-year-olds] want to be me. I mean, really." Oh Jann, only the insecure and overcompensating ones!
Jann does not miss Kent Brownridge, his number 2. "No, not at all." Nor does he miss former Men's Journal editor and former Rolling Stoner Jim Kaminsky, who joined Brownridge at Maxim. "Honestly, god bless him, I'm glad he left. He was taking it in a direction I didn't like. Kind of an airline magazine."
The irrelevance of Time magazine, which he does not read: "What does Time magazine stand for on the Internet? About the same thing it stands for as magazine. Well, who wants it? You've got CNN online. You got New York Times online. Got the Washington Post online. You've got so many other journalistic news organizations online, why would you turn to Time?"
What Jann does read: Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, the Times, the Washington Post and the Journal. "I might stop reading the Journal," he tells Fine. "Well, we'll see what happens, and how damaging [Rupert Murdoch] is to it...I've got so much [expletive] going on."
So do we, Jann! Like, we have to get back to wishing desperately we could be you! Well, minus the nearly-jobless married guy wandering around New York claiming he made out with you. Him, you can keep. We're just interested in the terrified minions and the total disconnect with reality.

Is Karen Danziger The Best Media Headhunter?

Choire — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:00:13 EDT

Today Kent Brownridge, Jann Wenner's former right-hand man and the honcho of new Alpha Media, the former Dennis Publishing, shouts the praises of media headhunter Karen Danziger. She's the exec vice president of Howard-Sloan-Koller Group, and she was the one who suggested somewhat frightening former Rolling Stone guy Jim Kaminsky as the new editor of Maxim. Brownridge tells Portfolio: "Karen Danziger, the only headhunter in the editorial world that I think is worth anything, and she's worth a lot — I love her; she's my sister, shrink, priest, whatever — she gives me a list of people that I should go see, and on it is Jim, and I think, oh, well, Jim." Heh. That's how we felt about Jim too—but then Kent got all frothy on him, and hired him. We've met Karen—she's fun, mouthy, doesn't like idiots, and she dresses like the high-end version of a sharp Long Island lady. But is she all that? Your experiences sought, anonymity guaranteed.

Multiple sources confirm that Maxim editor...

Doree Shafrir — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:33:22 EDT

Multiple sources confirm that Maxim editor in chief Jimmy Jellinek has been canned by his new boss, Kent Brownridge, and his newly christened Alpha Media Group. Furthermore, a source tells us that it happened right before the 4 p.m. start of the Alpha Media Group launch party at the Cellar Bar at the Bryant Park Hotel. Ouch. UPDATE: Former Men's Journal editor Jim Kaminsky, who used to be Maxim's executive editor and was formerly deputy managing editor at Rolling Stone, will be the new EIC.

Breaking: Staffing Change at Wenner Media Shocker

abalk2 — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:52:23 EST

We're hearing that Tom Foster, editor of Men's Journal, has resigned, citing irreconcilable differences with Jann Wenner. He'll be out of the office by 1 p.m. today. A tipster speculates:

It's most likely a forced resignation, as Foster was dismissed at Men's Health from his the number seven slot (about nine months into it) shortly before being giving the top job at Men's Journal. Rumor says Jim Kaminsky, former editor at Playboy, will take over Foster's role at least until Jann has another change of heart. Again.

Update: Foster's goodbye note:

Thanks for everything. I can't tell you how proud I am of all that we've accomplished, and how much I've enjoyed working with each of you. I truly hope I get the chance to work with each of you again. Please stay in touch — you can reach me at [redacted].

Good luck!
TF