When
Marlene Kahan was promoted to executive director
of the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME)
in 1990, a lot of eyebrows were raised in the industry.
Her predecessor was an older gentleman, and Kahan
had been his assistant for more than a decade.
The names of older, retired editors were recommended
for the position. Kahan seemed too young and inexperienced
for the job, and there was a serious question of
whether a woman could hold her own in a male-dominated
industry. But, most industry experts agree today,
Kahan has proven everyone wrong. And she showed
a great deal of restraint and patience in dealing
with the prejudices. Today she is considered synonymous
with ASME and the key driver behind the Oscars
of the magazine industry: The National Magazine
Awards.
There
are a great many prima donnas and divas in this industry,
a lot of clashing egos," said Richard B. Stolley,
senior editorial adviser, Time Inc. "She handles
them very well. She has been able to tap into the
willingness of the national magazine editors who
wanted to contribute to the industry, but did not
know how to. Today, they want to do things for ASME
because of Marlene."
ASME, which was founded in 1963 as the successor
to the editorial committee of the Magazine
Publishers of America, is a professional organization
for editors of consumer and online magazines
edited, published and sold in the United States.
With a membership of more than 900 chief and
senior editors, it provides more than just
a networking opportunity for its members. It
works to defend editors against external pressures
and to speak out on public policy issues, particularly
those pertaining to the First Amendment.
In her role as executive director, Kahan is
responsible for overseeing ASME's many programs
and activities, including the National Magazine
Awards and the Magazine Internship Program,
which brings college juniors to New York and
Washington each summer to work on the editorial
staffs of consumer magazines.
Kahan is largely credited with making ASME
a club that even the most important editors
want to belong to. She has created a much-needed
sense of community for the industry.
Dorothy Kalins
of Newsweek noted: "Marlene
knows how to build strong coalitions of editors
who might be competitors, but they come together
under her nonpartisan world and share resources.
She builds an amazing camaraderie amongst them."
One of Kahan's biggest contributions has been
to make the National Magazine Awards increasingly
relevant for the industry. Some 1,200 people
will attend the National Magazine Awards at
the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria in
New York City this year. The attendees will
include CEOs, publishers, editors, advertisers,
writers and photographers.
The National Magazine Awards have been presented
each year since 1966 to honor editorial excellence.
The awards, which drew 1,500 entries this year,
are organized in association with Columbia
University's Graduate School of Journalism.
"I choose 180 editors, art directors
and educators from all over the country," said
Kahan, "to come in and screen the entries
in 19 categories. Screening assignments are
organized in a way to avoid any conflict of
interest and to keep it as objective as possible.
Editors enjoy the job of screening and judging
because they have an opportunity to read widely
and also get some fresh ideas."
"She is one of the most conscientious
and diligent people I know in the journalism
world," said Sreenath Sreenivasan, director
of the Online Journalism Awards at Columbia
University. "I can only imagine what it
takes to run an organization of such gigantic
proportions, but she does it all with great
efficiency, style and flair."
Some of the winners from last year's awards
were The New Yorker, for profiles and essays
(The New Yorker also won three other awards);
Time, for public interest; Rolling Stone, for
feature writing; Esquire, for reporting and
National Geographic, for photography.
This year's
roster of National Magazine Awards finalists
includes a striking variety of titles
making an appearance for the first time. City
and regional magazines are strongly represented;
and The New Yorker once again leads the list
of 97 finalists with a total of nine nominations
in eight categories. "A lot of the same
magazines like The New Yorker and The Atlantic
Monthly rise to the top every year because
they consistently demonstrate quality," said
Kahan. First-time finalists this year include:
City, In Style and Sports Illustrated Women.
"Also a lot of 9/11 reporting is being
judged," said Kahan. "Magazines were
very reflective of the 9/11 tragedy and produced
some very good work."
Kahan explained that specialized categories
for awards have evolved over the years to reflect
the shifting dynamics of the marketplace and
the needs of consumers. For example, niche
magazines that coverleisure interests and personal
service have sprung up in a big way in the
last decade.
The personal service category recognizes excellence
in service journalism, which is intended to
help readers improve the quality of their personal
lives. Some examples of subjects covered are:
education, personal finance and health. Magazines
like BabyTalk, MBA Jungle and National Geographic
Adventure fall into this category.
"When historians look back at the eventful
year of 2001, they will find in magazines a
chronicle of the year in both graphic representation
and the written word," said Kahan. "The
range of titles honored with finalist nominations
is yet another reminder of the important place
of magazines in our culture."
Cyndi Stivers,
president of ASME and editor-in-chief of
Time Out New York, said: "The National
Magazine Awards work as well as they do because
of her. She has been pulling it together seamlessly
year after year." Besides the National
Magazine Awards, Kahan plays a key role in
establishing the editorial guidelines for the
industry. ASME has created clear guidelines
to ensure that the distinction between advertising
and editorial content is never blurred. "Our
guidelines are voluntary, but we encourage
the publishers and editors to uphold them as
an industry standard," she said, "to
ensure that advertising does not masquerade
as editorial." If a reader gets the impression
that an article was created or altered to satisfy
an advertiser or special interest group, she
said, that reader is likely to discount the
content of the article and distrust the publication
brand.
The idea behind
the guidelines, Kahan explained, is in the
interest of the magazines. "If
you break the reader's trust, you really won't
have a product to sell," she said.
"We have had a good response from the
industry in general. If I send a note to a
publisher, they usually agree and comply in
the future," Kahan said. Members who violate
the guidelines are barred from competing for
the National Magazine Awards. This strategy
usually works well, according to Kahan, as
the awards have become increasingly important
for the magazines.
Pam McCarthy
of The New Yorker commented on Kahan's contribution
to the industry, "She
is an incredible supporter of magazines and
a cheerleader for the magazine industry. She
is someone we all look to for guidance, inspiration
and support."
Kahan is very
excited about the upcoming awards and said
that her message at this year's event
will be that, despite the considerable challenges
that the industry faces plummeting advertising
an intimate, involving experience that fulfills
the personal needs of the reader." According
to MPA statistics, the average reader spends
45 minutes reading each issue. "Magazines
have been around since 1741, and will continue
to be published for years to come," predicts
Kahan.
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