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The Jann Wenner Temp Agency. Now hiring!
Lost in the shuffle of last week's news about the change-of-command at Maxim is what it means for Men's Journal, from whence Maxim owner Kent Brownridge poached new editor in chief James Kaminsky.
Assuming Jann Wenner cuts short his summer vacation to find a new editor for Men's Journal -- and by "cuts short" I mean "wraps it up sometime before Thanksgiving" -- the magazine will have its ninth new editor in just over 10 years. The full list, in chronological order:
John Rasmus
Terry McDonell
Mark Bryant
Sid Evans
Bob Wallace
Michael Caruso
Tom Foster
James Kaminsky
???
Wenner is legendary for changing his mind about the editorial direction of Men's Journal every 12 to 18 months, usually using it as an excuse to toss out the guy in charge. Kaminsky is one of the few who managed to get out before the trapdoor opened under his feet (although his ability to jump suggests that he, unlike a few of his predecessors, was content to work without a contract).
Under Kaminsky, the magazine had been moving back in a general-interest direction, after a couple years as a sports-and-adventure book, and doing fairly well: Ad pages were up 14.4 percent in the year's first half.
Still, at this point, anyone thinking of taking the reins at Men's Journal has to know pretty well what he's signing on for: Two years or less of building something that will be instantly leveled the moment your micromanaging boss decides he's had enough of you. As one Wenner source puts it, "How do you get a Kaminsky-level or Caruso-level person to take that job now?"
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