It's one thing to go after public figures, quite another to open up on those who are not. Collateral damage is a risky policy, and one that may well backfire.
From Wiki:
In 1999 AMI was bought by a group fronted by publishing executive David Pecker. Funding was diverted from the Enquirer, once considered to be the company's principal publication, to The Star. Editor Steve Coz, who guided the paper through the Simpson case, was fired and replaced by David Perel, who had been the Editor in charge of breaking numerous stories on the Simpson coverage.
The Enquirer's circulation for a time fell below 1 million (from over 6 million at its height). AMI brought in around 20 British journalists in early 2005, headed by editor, Paul Field, a former executive at the British tabloid The Sun, and relocated the editorial offices to New York for an April 2005 relaunch. The move failed horribly and Field and virtually all the British journalists were fired after just a year. The company reappointed David Perel and announced the Enquirer offices would return to Boca Raton, Florida in May 2006. Circulation numbers then climbed to over 1 million readers again (and Pecker realized his mistake), and according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations remain over 1 million today. David Perel remains in charge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Media_(publisher)
American Media's corporate headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, figured prominently in news headlines in late 2001, after an anthrax attack was perpetrated on the company. Since then the corporate headquarters have moved to New York City at 1 Park Avenue in Manhattan. The CEO, David J. Pecker, now travels between the Boca Raton and New York office while managing the company.
American Media also owns Distribution Services, Inc., an in-store magazine merchandising company.
Roger Altman, through Evercore Partners, bought a controlling stake in American Media in 1999.[1]
Publications The National Enquirer Star Globe National Examiner Sun Weekly World News (print edition ended as of August 2007) Country Weekly ¡Mira! Auto World Weekly Muscle & Fitness Muscle & Fitness Hers Shape Men's Fitness Flex Looking Good
American Media, Inc. Type Private Founded 1936 Headquarters Boca Raton, Florida Key people Joe Weider Industry Media Products Newspapers Magazines Revenue $1.597 billion USD (2006) Employees 3,160 (2006) Website [1]
Executive Bio's
David J. Pecker Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Prior to acquiring American Media, Inc. in 1999, Mr. Pecker was President and Chief Executive Officer of Hachette Filipacchi Magazines. Previously, Mr. Pecker had served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Hachette Magazines, Inc., formerly Diamandis Communications Inc.
During his 25-year career, Mr. Pecker has completed more than $3.6 Billion in magazine transactions.
David Pecker is the Chairman and CEO of American Media. He is the publisher of National Enquirer, Star, Sun, Weekly World News, Globe, Men's Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, Flex, FitPregnancy and Shape. He has served in his current role at AMI since 1999 and previously served as Chairman and CEO of Hachette Filipachi Magazines. He began his career as an accountant and through aggressive political maneuverings at CBS Magazines rose to V.P., Controller. As the junior of four employees in a partnership, CBS Magazines was LBO'd and then quickly sold to Hachette. He soon after became CEO at Hachette when the other three partners abruptly resigned. His success has been attributed to aggressive tyrannical behavior coupled with a a disregard for social norms in business when expedient. More here: http://www.jossip.com/tag/david-pecker/page/3/
John J. Miller President and Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Miller joined American Media in January of 2006 after nearly 30 years as an executive with Hachette Filipacchi Media. Most recently he held the position of Senior Vice President, Group Publishing Director of the Women’s Service and Shelter Division of Hachette overseeing six magazines and five websites.
Previously, Mr. Miller had served as Senior Vice President, Group Publisher of the Hachette Home group and Vice President and Publisher of the Photography Magazine Group in addition to several financial management positions.
During his career Mr. Miller has served as an individual Publisher of five different magazines
Kevin Hyson Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
Kevin Hyson joined American Media, Inc. in May of 1999 as Senior Vice President and was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2001. Prior to AMI, Mr. Hyson was President of Hylen Sharp, Inc., a Greenwich, Connecticut based marketing company whose client roster included Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, Sony, JVC, and Psion Computers. While at Hylen Sharp, Mr. Hyson worked closely with Mr. Pecker on a number of corporate advertising programs and new magazine launches for Hachette, as well as the development of that company's new media initiatives.
Dave Leckey Executive Vice President, Consumer Marketing Dave Leckey was named Executive Vice President, Consumer Marketing of American Media, Inc. in February 2006. Previously, Leckey was the Senior Vice President, Consumer Marketing at Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. Prior to this he was at Hearst Publications.
Leckey is on the Board of Directors of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) since 1988, where he serves as Chairman of the Magazine Committee which addresses issues confronting the media industry, especially those concerning circulation reporting and measurement standards. He was the 2002 recipient of the Lee C. Williams Lifetime Achievement Award by the FMA. http://www.americanmediainc.com 1000 American Media Way Boca Raton, FL USA 33464 Phone: 561-997-7733
@americanmediainc.com @amilink.com Exec David Pecker Chairman/CEO 561-997-7733 Exec/ Ops John Miller President/COO 561-997-7733 Sales/Mktg Kevin Hyson EVP/Chief Marketing Officer 561-997-7733 Dave Leckey EVP Consumer Marketing Not Available 561-997-7733 Ken Slivken Human Resources, phone: 212-743-6527 email: kslivken@amilink.com http://www.openwhitepages.com/us/212-743-6527
Anyone with any additional information, feel free to add it.
If Mr. Pecker (snicker) thinks everyone is fair game, then turnabout should be no problem.
btw, a comprehensive list of ALL the advertisers in AMI publications might come in handy...