Keith J. Kelly

Keith J. Kelly

Media

Jitters at Bauer over new editorial honcho

Looks like David Perel’s career as an independent digital entrepreneur is over — and insiders at Bauer Publications are said to be jittery.

On Wednesday, the one-time editor of the National Enquirer and RadarOnline was tapped as the new editorial director of Bauer’s In Touch and Life & Style magazines.

Perel had left American Media in August with a consulting gig and some vague plans to start a new business.

The editor replaces Daniel Wakeford who had arrived from Britain to help launch In Touch for Bauer 11 years ago and ended up as its editor in chief. Two years ago, he was also tapped to oversee Life & Style.

But in recent months, he clashed with management over cuts in resources, insiders said.

“I think he was getting too expensive for them,” said one source.

When the end came Wednesday morning, one source said, “It was not a shock to him, he was prepared.”

Wakeford had been a big fan of putting Kim Kardashian and her sisters Khloé and Kourtney on the covers as often as possible — and for a while that seemed to help sales.

Like all titles in the celebrity field, Bauer has seen circulation drop off in recent months. Insiders worry that the titles will be positioned more downmarket and oriented more toward celebrity scandal.

Perel, reached on his cellphone, declined to comment.

Bauer President Ian Scott said, “It’s inevitable that people are going to be nervous when they get a new boss, but I don’t think they should be. What they are getting is an editor with a lot of experience in the celebrity field who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.”

Scott also suggested that Bauer was taking an interest in developing more of a digital presence — something the company that relies on the European model of newsstand sales has spent very little time or money on in the past.

On Friday, the company also revealed that it had hired Chirstopher Yates to be its new vice president, digital for Bauer. He had held digital esxecutive jobs at Time Inc. and Wenner Media. Insiders say his early focus will be on boosting the teen market where J-14 is the second teen title on Facebook behind Hearst-owned Seventeen.