To mark its 40th anniversary, Conde Nast’s W has published a coffeetable book titled, appropriately, “W: The First 40 Years.”  According to Erik Maza, writing here in sister Conde Nast publication WWD, the book is part of editor-in-chief Stefano Tonchi’s efforts to position W as a lifestyle publication after being thought of as, first, a bastion of “high society,” and then as the home of “strong fashion photography.” “I wanted something people could actually learn from and learn about what the magazine is about,” Tonchi tells Maza. “It’s about editorial choices. It’s not just about reproducing images.”   Since Tonchi’s arrival …

Wired magazine editor in chief Chris Anderson is leaving after nearly 12 years at the pub to head 3D Robotics, "a company he co-founded in 2009 that turns atoms into drones," according to a report credited to the magazine's staff. "Condé Nast editorial director Thomas J. Wallace will lead the search for Anderson’s replacement"

The New York Observer's latest headline -- "NEW YORK TO SANDY: ‘BLOW ME.’" -- "was the only [head] we really considered," says editor in chief Aaron Gell, in his first interview since taking on the job two months ago. "I felt like it channeled a certain sense of defiance that New Yorkers were feeling in that moment," he adds. "I think that’s occasionally the role of a paper like the Observer—giving voice to a certain cathartic, gut-level response that would seem out of place in the Times or New York or another more established outlet." Gell also discusses …

We're very nervous about the results of tomorrow's election -- and we suspect, no matter what your political orientation, you are, too. And so is the media, since 2012 has been "the year of the big media gaffe," with TV folks "gearing up for... the finale of the year’s biggest story" and the "chance to regain some credibility — presuming, of course, that television networks and other news organizations get their state-by-state projections right,"  writes Brian Stelter in The New York Times.Chris Ariens of TV Newser describe the preparations at TV stations: "The graphics are being …

In one of the many "exposes" that are circulating about how the presidential campaign teams are utilizing questionable, possibly nefarious methods to "hyper-target" unsuspecting voters, Wall Street Journal columnist L. Gordon Crovitz weighs in with the fact that the Obama team drops upwards of 87 cookies on the browsers of visitors to the campaign's website. My question is, how many cookies does the average marketer drop when consumers visit their sites?

Political advertising has set a new record -- 1 million spots aired to date -- according to a Wesleyan Media Project analysis of data from Kantar Media CMAG. Specifically, 1,015,615 ads have aired since June 1, marking a 39.1% increase over 2008 (730,041) and a 41% increase over 2004 (720,064). During the general election period following each candidate's nomination, the Obama campaign outspent Romney's campaign 2.6-to-1 on advertising. To date, Denver has been the No. political advertising market with 4,689 spots aired so far, followed by Las Vegas (4,433), Orlando (3,767), Cleveland (3,668) and Tampa (3,441).

For all the coverage of the President Obama's ground superiority, there has been much less attention to the degree to which he is dominating the airwaves. Kantar Media's CMAG, counting every presidential ad aired from Oct. 24 to Oct. 30, found the Obama campaign aired TWICE as many spots as Romney - 35,731 to 17,277, with estimated spending of $24 million for Obama and $11 million for Romney.

The producers of anti-Obama documentary, "2016: Obama's America," the hit documentary critical of President Obama's record, are releasing it digitally in Spanish as part of a last-minute push to boost Mitt Romney. The producers, which have already released a digital version of hte film in English, will charge $2.99 for the Spanish-language version.

More bad news from Sandy: "In disrupting local TV and radio broadcasts and putting a halt to all New York media buying, Monday’s once-in-a-generation storm is likely to cost the industry as much as half a billion dollars, according to Pivotal Research Group senior analyst Brian Wieser," writes Anthony Crupi. Wieser also revised his U.S. ad forecast for Q4 downward, "predicting a 1.4 percent decline compared to an earlier prediction of 0.9 percent growth."

For a change, some non-snarky Snooki news: the “Jersey Shore” star, herself in the dark, has asked her 6 million Twitter followers to help Hurricane Sandy victims on the Jersey Shore with donations to the Red Cross. Some shore victims were even set to get some of Snooki’s own clothes today. “Jersey Shore’s” iconic Seaside Heights setting was devastated by Sandy, and other members of the MTV show’s cast like Vinny Guadagnino have also appealed for donations from fans of the show. Fans (and anyone else) can donate $10 by texting ”Redcross” to 9099.