Cristina Greeven Cuomo has been named editor-in-chief of Manhattan magazine at Modern Luxury Media, replacing James Heidenry, who jumped ship in late April to become editor-in-chief of Star, Media Ink has learned.
Cuomo last edited PlumHamptons magazine before the parent company Plum Networks crashed into bankruptcy last year. PlumHamptons had been one of the few standouts of the troubled company and had succeeded in carving out a literary niche in a fiercely competitive market. Nevertheless, it was unable to dislodge Hamptons magazine from its perch.
Cuomo, married to ABC News correspondent Chris Cuomo, and the sister-in-law of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has long experience in the regional media startup market. Her hire is clearly intended to elevate the status of Manhattan, which has struggled to generate buzz and ad sales against more well-established rivals.
Manhattan is part of Modern Luxury Media, which in 2010 was taken over by Dickey Publishing, an entity controlled by the Dickey family, an Atlanta-based media clan that controls Cumulus Media.
The Dickey family picked it up in a fire sale from General Electric Financial Services and NewStar Financial, one-time lenders, who converted their debt to equity when the then-owners defaulted on a $120 million loan. Modern Luxury was sold in 2007 for $243 million.
One of Cuomo’s first orders of business may be to hire staff, which has been depleted in recent months. Manhattan is down to two full-time editorial staffers.
Cuomo, reached by Media Ink, said the small staff may be a blessing since she’ll be able to add her own freelancers and staffers without bumping aside incumbents. “I’ll be bringing in some people to work under me,” she said. “We will be staffing up.”
Neither she nor Dickey officials could say how many will be added.
Time to go
Stephanie George, the chief marketing officer and an executive vice president at Time Inc., is going to be feted with a big in-house party in the Luce Room at the Time & Life building tomorrow night to mark her farewell.
The more interesting gathering may come right after the farewell “pour,” at an intimate dinner at an Upper East Side restaurant later that night. “Most of the people going to that dinner have been fired by Time Inc. over the years,” said one source.
George joined Time Inc. from Fairchild and W Magazine in 2000 and advanced rapidly through the ranks, helping to launch In Style and other titles working her deep ties to Madison Ave. and the fashion world.
She eventually became a close confidante of CEO Ann Moore, but did not fare quite so well in the short reign of Jack Griffin.
She seemed to have been granted a reprieve with the quick ouster of Griffin, but it was apparently only temporary. She apparently did not find a new landing pad in the executive suite after former Digitas CEO Laura Lang took over as CEO.
But the farewell as being done as cordially as possible with over 100 people expected to turn out to say farewell.
War zone
A cousin of Anthony Shadid, the New York Times reporter who died in Syria, said that the reporter told his wife, Nada Bakri, before his death, “If anything happens to me, I want the world to know the New York Times killed me.”
Ed Shadid made his comments Sunday at a dinner sponsored by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington, DC. The remarks, picked up by Politico.com, sent shock waves through the journalistic establishment.
The ADC seemed taken aback. “We didn’t expect what was said to be said,” said A
bed Ayoub, ADC legal director. “I think everyone was shocked.” The ADC named its internship program after Shadid and was honoring his memory at the dinner.
Initially, the Times seemed to exacerbate the controversy by refusing to comment, but finally issued a statement denying that it forced a reluctant correspondent to undertake the dangerous mission.
Anthony Shadid was said to have died from an acute asthma attack. His cousin said he had engaged in a shouting match with his editors right before departing.
His wife seemed to distance herself from the cousin’s remarks. “I do not approve of and will not be a part of any public discussion of Anthony’s passing. It does nothing but sadden Anthony’s children to have to endure repeated public discussion of their father’s death.”
The Times, in its statement, said, “Anthony Shadid’s death was a tragedy and we appreciated the enduring grief that his family feels. With respect, we disagree with Ed Shadid’s version of the facts. The Times does not pressure reporters to go into combat zones.” “Anthony was an experienced and motivated correspondent. He decided whether, how and when to enter Syria and was told by his editors, including on the day of the trip that he should not make the trip if he felt it was not advisable for any reason.”