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???I'm still here, and in good standing,??? Doug Simmons, the beleaguered acting editor-in-chief of the Village Voice, told Gawker by phone just a few minutes ago. Then he laughed. ???Well, maybe not in such good standing.???

Simmons was returning a voicemail we left for him about 24 hours ago - he's had some things on his mind, we imagine - to apologize for his delay and clarify that he has not in fact quit the storied alt-weekly, which yesterday retracted its cover story after learning parts of it were fabricated. Mediabistro reported this morning that ???interim editor Doug Simmons has left the paper (according to a PR rep)??? in wake of the revelations about the cover story, by star young writer Nick Sylvester. Sylvester's piece examined how men in New York are employing the pick-up strategies described in Neil Strauss's The Game, and how women are developing countermeasures.

The Voice posted a note from Sylvester on its site last night acknowledging that the final scene of his piece was fraudulent, and the paper said that the 2004 Harvard grad, a Lampoon vet, had been suspended while the piece is reviewed.

ABSOLUT Vodka may have hastened the demise of Absolute Magazine with a nasty trademark infringement lawsuit against the small upscale magazine.

Absolute Magazine announced last Friday it was closing, tossing a stunned staff of 36 people onto the street with no advance warning. Many were searching for a reason why, especially since the new Spanish owner, Domingo Cuadra, had visited only two weeks earlier and assured all that everything was rosy.

Quietly and behind the scenes for the past year, V&S Vin & Spirit, the Swedish government-owned company that owns Absolut Vodka, has waged a knock-down drag-out battle against the Absolute Publishing Company, which has been publishing Absolute Magazine, aimed at high end, luxury-minded consumers.

Elle has long lagged behind Vogue in the online arena but it's finally starting to play some catch-up - by perhaps taking a page from its larger rival. Traffic to elle.com was way up in February following the debut of the site's redesign at the end of January. The site averaged 1 million page views per day for the month, a 93 percent increase over February 2005, according to Laurie Fromm, managing director of the Elle Online Group. Advertising revenue in the first quarter to date is up 150 percent over last year, she added. All this comes at a time when the Elle brand in general has been thriving: The magazine's newsstand sales average was up 15.2 percent in the second half of 2005, and it finished the year with 2,066 ad pages, a 10.7 percent gain over 2004.

We spent a lot of time before we went ahead with this relaunch, talking to advertisers and viewers and studying the traffic to see what was really successful," Fromm said. "We knew we had tremendous equity in the Elle brand, but you didn't see that when you came to the site. We also felt navigation was very difficult, and we needed to create an architecture that would really allow a viewer to glide through the site."

NEW DEAL FOR MAXIM MAN: It looks like Rob Gregory will be able to enjoy Maxim's upcoming 100th issue celebration without a cloud hanging over his head. Gregory, the magazine's publisher, recently signed a new two-year contract with Dennis Publishing, according to sources with ties to the company. His previous contract, obtained when Gregory jumped from Rolling Stone to Maxim in January 2004, was set to expire, and the magazine's lackluster recent performance - advertising pages were down 31.5 percent in the first quarter, according to Media Industry Newsletter - had some wondering whether Dennis would keep him. With the imminent departure of editorial director Andy Clerkson, who was said to be earning $850,000 per year, Gregory is believed to be one of the highest-paid remaining Dennis executives. Gregory declined to comment on his contract.

THAT'S RICH: What took them so long? The Wall Street Journal Europe is launching a glossy lifestyle magazine, aimed at rich businessmen age 30 to 55. The quarterly, which launches next month, has the working title of Style Journal. "A lot of professional men over 30 don't buy men's magazines because they think they're laddish, yet this group likes to spend money on food, drink, travel and cars," said editor Peter Howarth, formerly editor of Esquire and Arena. "With Style Journal, we are going straight to a readership that most men's magazines would dream of, rather than hoping a readership finds us."

... that the Budget Fashionista.com (http://www.thebudgetfashionista.com), a popular website/blog, is looking to expand its database of freelance beauty and fashion writers to write fun copy for its newsletters and other special assignments. Please send a short email describing your interest in writing for the site and any previous writing experience, along with 2 short (no more than 500 words) fashion/shopping/beauty related writing samples to stuff@thebudgetfashionista.com.

... that BRIDAL GUIDEa national, bi-monthly bridal magazine seeks a creative and detail-oriented Assistant Art Director to join our art department. Our magazine focuses on all topics related to weddings cakes, honeymoon travel, receptions, relationships. We are looking for an energetic team player for the following job responsibilities: attending planning meetings with editors to brainstorm art for stories, researching stock photography, assigning illustrations, designing editorial pages, assisting Creative Director in planning photoshoots, working with Production Manager to facilitate closings, doing administrative tasks such as billing, filing, returning art to photographers, sending out issues to contributors and more.

Candidate must have 1 year related experience or internship at a consumer magazine art department and must be proficient in Quark and Photoshop on the Mac. Must be highly organized and able to work on many projects simultaneously. Contact Robin Zachary Email Address AssistAD@aol.com Address 3 E. 54th St. New York, NY 10022 USA

Special Instructions Send resume, cover letter which MUST INCLUDE salary requirements and portfolio samples. No one will be considered without salary requirements. Mention Ed2010 in your letter. NO PHONE CALLS OR FAXES.

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