• by September 15, 2003

Consumer Reports, a magazine known for putting heat on defective and unreliable products, has issued a recall for its two top editors. That editorial director Julia Kagan and exec editor Eileen Denver got the boot comes as no surprise to the Riff. CR is still one of our shopping bibles, but it has grown stale and one-dimensional in recent years and was overdue for an editorial overhaul. What we did find surprising was the reason for the editorial coup: a conflict with the business side of the magazine over the editorial direction of the venerable consumer tome. And we thought such conflicts only arose out of conflicts involving advertising and editorial tensions. Apparently, they also were building within the advertising-free publication as the title's publisher wanted to give more emphasis to its consumerreports.org site. And with good reason. With 1.2 million paying subs, consumerreports.org is one of the most successful pay sites on the Net, even if it does have a .org for a suffix. So it seems only logical that Consumers Union, the nonprofit that publishes both the title and the site would look to expand its Web presence and content. After all, in an age of c-commerce consumerism, it's hard to imagine many savvy Web users waiting a month for the next installment of CR on the chance that it might have a review on washers and dryers after your Maytag blew a gasket and sprung a leak.

How things have changed since Madonna became a Madonna. Take her choice in literature. The last time she felt the muse to scribe the result was her aptly named sexual fantasy book, "Sex." Eleven years and lot's of sex later a Madonna with child has turned her pen to things, well, motherly. Here new book, "The English Roses," is about a friendship shared by four 11-year-old girls. No, not that kind of friendship. This one's a morality play intended to teach young girls the right kind of values to have in their relationships. We're just wondering if Madonna happened to slip a copy to Britney Spears.

This is Sirius: Baywatcher To Be Heard, Not Seen. To paraphrase Howard Hughes, the Riff thinks Sirius may be underutilizing the two best assets of its new celebrity endorser. The digital satellite radio service has tapped Pamela Anderson to be the "voice of radio in media and promotions" and to host a new "Club Pam" radio show. But the nationwide radio service, which eschews advertising on its airwaves may be stretching the bounds of conventional product claims in its "Club Pam" promotions. "What exactly will she be doing for Sirius," toys the radio firm in a release touting its sultry new spokesvoice. "Well, all the things listeners dream she would do for them, of course." And what do the dreams of those listeners consist of: being a storyteller and advice goddess. Obviously, the folks at Sirius have not been tapping into the Riff's unconscious lately.