Boo! (Didja jump? You scaredy cat!) - Ed2010 News Archives at Zinester. Education

VNU, the Dutch publishing and market research company that owns ACNielsen, was near a deal late last night to be sold to a consortium of private equity investors for about $9 billion in cash, according to people involved in the discussions.

The company is hoping to announce the transaction this morning when it is also planning to report its earnings, these people said.

The deal would come after months of speculation that VNU, which also owns Nielsen Media Research and trade publications like Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, would be sold. In January, the investor consortium made a preliminary offer of about 28.50 euros, or about $34, a share for VNU. Under the terms of the current deal, the consortium would pay slightly more than 28.50 euros a share, people involved in the negotiations said.

Real estate magnate William B. May says he is riding to the rescue of Absolute magazine. The upscale city magazine shut down Feb. 24 and laid off its 30-plus person staff, including Editor-in-Chief Andrew Essex and Publisher Ernie Renzulli. Domingo Cuadra, the wealthy Spanish real estate investor and lawyer who had been supporting the venture, said he was going to stop funding it.

The March issue, which had already been printed, will now be mailed, May said. May said the new company will consist of his investment company, called the 1866 Investment Corp., plus Cuadra reduced to a minority stake and other private investors.

May said he hoped to meet with some key people last night, and eventually restart with about eight editorial staffers.

If kindness can oppress, then count Atlantic Monthly owner David G. Bradley as one of the great tyrants of our day. A gracious, deferential, generous, self-effacing, patient, and excessively polite man, he may be the first media mogul-he owns the National Journal Group-to practice nonstop goodness.

He doesn't yell. In fact, a lingering throat ailment keeps him from speaking loudly. He has no enemies (whom I can find). Every act of decency-and there are plenty-he commits comes wrapped in an apology, and if he doesn't offer an apology, he extends an equally bizarre request for forgiveness or permission. And then comes the flattery, which he spreads like frosting over cotton candy. Bradley illustrates Clay Felker's observation that formal manners are a marvelous way of fending off people-without offending them.

But Bradley is not soft. He made his millions in the consulting racket and appears to have been born with an iron ass, which endows him with a superhuman stamina for enduring the long meetings that he loves to convene. No decision in the Bradley universe is too important or so trivial that it can't be studied, researched, analyzed, and ultimately postponed, tabled, and deferred in favor of a new round of study, research, and analysis.

Vanity Fair editor in chief Graydon Carter is developing a fickle reputation with his cover subjects. After replacing Sheryl Crow and Lance Armstrong with Natalie Portman for April, he's changed his mind yet again and given the cover to Teri Hatcher.

The last-minute flip-flop was evidently because Hatcher, for the first time, is talking publicly about an uncle who sexually abused her when she was a child. She told interviewer Leslie Bennetts, "I didn't intend to talk about this with you, but it is something that's been surfacing with me for the past three years. This is something I've tried to hide my whole life."

But will Carter still be Hatcher's champion come June? He turned on a recent cover subject last Friday, when he dissed Paris Hilton on the HBO show "Real Time With Bill Maher." Carter said Hilton wouldn't be coming to the Vanity Fair Oscar party at Morton's, even after she appeared on the magazine's October 2005 cover. "The only Hilton we'll allow in is Conrad Hilton, in an urn," he said on air, adding, "I think the 15 minutes of fame is almost an exaggeration for this generation because there's nothing to support whatever - there's no quality behind what they do." Perhaps the love lost had something to do with the fact that the Hilton cover was controversial within Cond?Š Nast, where many complained it cheapened the magazine.

REAL DEALS: It is a rare occasion when The New York Times loses an employee to a monthly magazine. Rarer still, when the monthly is Real Simple. Michael Cannell is exiting the Times' House & Home section and starts next week as Real Simple's new home editor. He replaces Susan Leaderman, who left the magazine in January to pursue other opportunities. (She was not part of the company-wide layoffs Time Inc. instituted at the end of 2005 and beginning of 2006.)

It's like deja vu. Just over a month ago, Britain was awaiting the launch of two new women's weeklies. Now, just as they've arrived on newsstands, two more publishers have let out word that they too will be launching two new women's weeklies.

On Monday, British publishing giant Emap said that it will spend more than $21 million on launching a magazine into the sector early this summer. And yesterday, the Mail on Sunday, a national British newspaper, began selling You, its Sunday supplement, as a stand-alone weekly magazine.

So that makes four new weekly women's magazines that have been either announced or launched so far this year, and it's only March. What's more, last year and the year before also saw a good number of launches into the men's and women's weekly category.

Late last year, the magazines formerly known as Fairchild Publications moved from their headquarters at 7 West 34th Street to a new home at 750 Third Avenue. Left behind were the four portraits of Fairchilds-starting with founders E.W. and L.W. Fairchild-that formerly greeted visitors. They have been returned to the Fairchild family; in their place, the new lobby will feature modern art.

So goes the de-Fairchilding of Fairchild, under the ever-expanding reach of Cond?Š Nast. Back in September, S.I. Newhouse announced he was restructuring his magazine empire: The Advance Magazine umbrella, which had hung over all his divisions, would be furled; henceforth the glamorous Cond?Š Nast name would cover everything, including the 114-year-old, down-to-earth Fairchild.

Now, most of the obvious elements of the Fairchild brand have been eradicated. Switchboard operators answer the phones with ???Cond?Š Nast Publications.??? About a month ago, workers installed Cond?Š Nast signage throughout the Fairchild space. An architect-designed cafeteria, echoing Cond?Š Nast's fabled Frank Gehry one at 4 Times Square, is in the works.

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... that Boca Raton magazine (bocamag.com), the glossy lifestyle publication based in Boca and covering all of South Florida, is looking for a freelance writer who can tell us all about current and upcoming home furnishing trends and products...from kitchen appliances to table setting accessories. This is for the new food magazine, Florida Table, that we're launching next fall. Interested parties should contact Editor Marie Speed at editor@bocamag.com.

... that Justine magazine, a national teen magazine based out of Memphis, is seeking full-time writers with strong journalistic and editorial skills. Prefer local and regional applicants. Cover letter and resumes should be sent to kbaker@justinemagazine.com. No phone calls please. (Best not to mention Ed)

... that Vibe Magazine may be looking for a new copy chief to start asap. Must pay attention to details and be very cognizant of mistakes. Contact the managing editor. This is extremely on the hush so do NOT mention Ed.

... that Every Day with Rachael Ray is looking to hire a 2-3 day a week intern to start right away. (NO SUMMER INTERNSHIP APPLICATIONS, PLEASE.) Send resume, cover letter and clips to gina_hamadey@rd.com. (OK to mention Ed???

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