#18 I rewrote Condé Nast’s ridiculous open letter
“If you don’t have independence, you don’t have authority,” Alexandra Shulman, a former editor at British Vogue.
Yo,
The big shot editors of the French, German, and Chinese editions of Vogue have been fired, consolidated by perhaps the last-standing power editor, the almighty Dame Anna Wintour, now in a role made for her called “Global Chief Content Officer.”
(When has consolidation in media turned out to be a good thing?)
In a half-assed attempt to take charge of the dialogue, Condé Nast published this ridiculous open letter. The letter claims the decisions were creatively driven, arguing “authority and creativity come from being global” and that having different regional editors caused competition and was “self-defeating.”
In the same breath they commit to keeping “local stories at the heart of everything we do.”
So, you’re going to be the global authority of local stories? Um, is it just me, or does this make no sense?
No reader is looking for the Amazon Basics of magazines, which is exactly what a lack of “competition” and an emphasis on global “authority” produces.
Condé Nast is not profitable. The letter really should have addressed that. Own it.
Since I’ve, perhaps foolishly, dedicated my career to making print magazines, I’ve always followed what the “big Nasty” does, especially as they’ve attempted to shift their business online. So I did them a favor and rewrote their open letter. Here it goes: