Only weeks before a new redesign is set to hit newsstands, Reader’s Digest has tossed out Jackie Leo, the editor of its flagship U.S. edition, and replaced her with Peggy Northrop, the editor-in-chief of Meredith Corp.’s More magazine.
Leo had been running the magazine since 2001 and is credited with bringing it from its dusty days of running condensed articles from other outlets into one that runs its own original reporting on sex, schools and health.
Her departure comes as the magazine prepares to unveil its new look. Everything from the logo to the typeface and the columns is slated to change as the company introduces a new theme, “Life well shared,” for the magazine.
Northrop said she was shown some elements of the redesign and the new marketing push behind it.
“I’m going to be tinkering with that redesign as I dive into it,” she said. “If it’s working, I’ll keep it, if it isn’t, I’ll change it. I’ll be reviewing everything when I arrive on the 26th.”
No replacement has been named at More.
In the four years that Northrop has been at the helm of More, it has consistently landed on the Adweek Hot List and the Advertising Age A-List.
The departure of Leo marks the second time in five days that a high-level editorial executive has lost a job at Readers Digest Association. On Monday, Conrad Kiechel, an 18-year veteran, was replaced as the editor of the 52 international editions of the magazine by former Money Editor Frank Lalli.