GWAS Media Musings

Hooking you up with what's happening on the glossy media beat...

- Four of the cast members of Nine – Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz and Kate Hudson have been shot by embattled photographer Annie Leibovitz for the November cover of U.S. Vogue. The film is reportedly to be released nationally in the U.S. on Christmas Day (and in Australia in January). Perhaps this would have made for a better December cover, then, what with the festive scarlet hues? Meanwhile...

- Penelope Cruz goes solo on the November cover of Vanity Fair. Of the Spanish star, Ingrid Sischy writes: "With phenomenal performances in some recent winners, including last year’s Woody Allen gem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, thanks to which she now has an Oscar on her mantel, Cruz is poised to become a new member of the tiny firmament of actresses who began their careers in a language other than English and went on to become truly international stars: the Marlene Dietrichs, Greta Garbos, Ingrid Bergmans, Sophia Lorens, Anouk Aimées, Catherine Deneuves, Jeanne Moreaus, and Liv Ullmanns." Cruz stars in two films out in October/November: Rob Marshall's Nine and Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces." A firm favourite of Vanity Fair, Penelope appeared on the April cover of the magazine with director Pedro Almodovar.

- While attending the international fashion shows is part of the job description at certain Conde Nast titles, would some editors feel uncomfortable spending their travel allowance while 180 staff from the company's other titles clear out their desks? Maybe. "Anna Wintour hasn't been seen since Dior on Friday," says The Cut's Amy Odell.

- Supermodel Christie Brinkley is joining the cast of Ugly Betty, making a guest appearance as Penelope Graybridge, a fashion editor of a competing magazine to Mode. Latina icon Shakira is also joining the cast for a cameo as herself. (Source: Sassy Bella)

- Georgia May Jagger has made the November cover of U.K. Vogue, which is all about thrifty fashion: see the 'More Dash Than Cash', 'Vogue's A-Z of pound-saving tricks', 'Thrift-chic heroines' and '380 tips on glamour for less' coverlines. Of the issue, The Guardian's Paula Cocozza writes: "Here is some good news for the stylish but cash-strapped: there is a great-looking stripy shorts and shirt suit in the latest Vogue that costs only £2, despite having a ruff collar that alludes to this season's Ralph Lauren. The bad news is that you have to make it yourself, out of plastic bags, and it could take a while. (Plus, it might make you sweat a bit.) The outfit is part of a Make Do and Mend shoot, a jolly response to our hardened times: other looks include an amazing dress made out of 45 mop heads, a bolero sprung out of Marigolds and an ingenious pair of platform shoes whose stacked soles are really two rolls of toilet paper (watch out for puddles)."

- U.K. Glamour, the nation's highest selling glossy, has run with a Jennifer Aniston cover this month. Not terribly exciting, of course. Claudia Schiffer is on the cover of U.K. Harper's BAZAAR.

- UK society magazine Tatler celebrates 300 years in print with its November 2009 issue, while remaining defiantly anti-internet, unashamedly elitist and running a 1966 portrait of the Queen on the cover. "I’m rather tired of all this business about the Internet," Patricia Stevenson, publishing director, told The New York Times. “Magazines are wonderful things to have with you and to take around with you. I think Tatler is going to be around for another 300 years.” The mag sells about 85,000 copies a month ("there is kind of a glass ceiling to how many people can read it," says Nicholas Coleridge, vice president of Condé Nast International.

- Jezebel is amused by Vanessa Hudgens' declaration of naivete to Allure magazine; not so amused by the identical twins who "look years apart".

- Jill Dupleix asks, "Has the food magazine had the chop?" in her excellent commentary on the demise of Gourmet, appraisal of Australia's food publishing forays and the foodie mediascape. "Yes, Julia Child may well have learned to cook French food from Gourmet magazine (before going on to improve the recipes herself), but this is now the world of blogger Julie Powell as well as Julia Child... the great area of development (and potential) is with food blogs, which are growing not only in numbers, but in influence. Once dismissed as a bunch of geeky enthusiastic amateurs, they are now a force to be reckoned with."

- ACP's NW magazine is relaunching in November, according to Mediaweek via AFR, with editor-in-chief Louise Oswald at the helm. Oswald, formerly an expat who edited Rupert Murdoch's News of the World's Sunday magazine in the UK, started on the gossip title in August, joining Nicole Byers who remains editor. In the June circulation audit, NW posted a year-on-year decline of -9.6%, with average weekly sales of 140,283 copies, placing it third in the weekly category after Woman's Day and New Idea.

- Still with ACP Magazines. The publisher launches Your Body on Monday. Featuring a bronzed Lara Bingle on the cover, the glossy targets time-poor women in their late 20s to early 40s. Lynette Phillips, publishing and sales director for ACP, tells Ad News that there is a gap in the market for a high-production-value health magazine that addresses women's pursuit for a more balanced life. "Young women are looking for a magazine dedicated to health they can trust," she says. "We have the formula for a health magazine to which women can relate, compared to other titles that take a presumptuous and high ground health approach to their readers." The initial print run will be 60,000 copies, while content will include food and nutrition, sex and relationships, mental health, travel and fitness. An odd move given the recent-ish relaunch of the publisher's Good Health title, which is skewing younger to attract back readers who've adopted Pacific's Women's Health as their sole health information source or older readers turning to Prevention. Given Cosmo and Cleo's not-inconsiderable health content, the mag may cannibalise some of their readership... or be hung out to dry on the shelves.

- Why are American bloggers subject to different editorial endorsement disclosure standards to magazines? Last week the Federal Trade Commission ruled that from December 1 bloggers must disclose any sort of cash or in-kind payment for product reviewed or discussed on their blog or be fined $11k. "If a magazine was forced to disclose everything they received for free, they’d need to publish an entirely separate magazine," quips Fashionista's Britt. Indeed, are magazines the pretty teacher's pets who can do no wrong, while bloggers court the derision of the headmaster?

See also:
- "Soon, Bloggers Must Give Full Disclosure", The New York Times: "The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter."
- "FTC to Bloggers: Show Us Your Payola", Min Online, which asks, "Will publishers be liable themselves for bloggers who work under a network umbrella made by the publishing brand? What regimens will publishers put in place to educate their blog networks?"
- "FTC Puts Its Foot Down on Blogger Freebies", Independent Fashion Bloggers. "Being transparent in your dealings with readers and with commercial agents is always the best way to proceed, then there can be no grey areas. Of course, there is another discussion to be had as to whether bloggers are being unfairly targeted in comparison to print journalists, but I think it’s more important to clarify the immediate ramifications of the FTC Guides."

- Dorothy found herself in Oz before returning home to Kansas but Oprah is promising Kansas holds the key to reinvigorating your life. Fans of O The Oprah Magazine can attend the annual O You! event being held in Kansas on October 24 for US$99. The event allows readers to attend seminars held by the magazine's key contributors, including author/life coach Martha Beck (worth the $99 alone), columnist Suze Orman and fashion expert Stacy London. To book visit the dedicated website.

- News Limited has launched a site in order to recruit readers to generate feedback on its titles (including Vogue Australia, Notebook:, delicious., Vogue Entertaining + Travel, Inside Out, GQ...). Go to thethinkspot.com.au to have your say and be in the running to win iPhones and CASH. (Note: I wasn't paid to tell you this!)

- And Pocketto is looking for a graphic designer with a penchant for cupcakes...

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel