• by John Gaffney , September 18, 2002

The World Through Rosie Colored Glasses: There’s a line in a Don Henley song that goes: “There’s three sides to every story/Yours, mine and the cold, hard truth.” I’m sure that’s applicable in the Rosie magazine closing. There’s Rosie’s story, G&J’s story and somewhere there’s truth. Here’s one thing I do know, and it’s a lesson to be learned for any current or future celebrity-based magazine. Said celebrity has to be committed for a period of time to the spirit and editorial content of the venture. At the beginning of this deal, Rosie O’Donnell must have known that this was a magazine that was aimed at women over 35. She must have known the plan was to reach a mass circulation. She must have known that this was a highly competitive space where her image, presence and reputation were critical to success. I’ve been on the editorial side and publishing side of a few magazines in my career. And for things to reach the point that they reached here – where you actually shut down a magazine - I’d say someone was being downright unreasonable. And with all the money it had on the line, I don’t think the unreasonable party was G&J.

The View From Here: I’ve said it before, if I’m running G&J right now I’d do whatever I could to replace Rosie with The View. Great title. Multicultural cast. Same demographic as Rosie. Interchangeable celebrities. And you even get Barbara Walters, who still has her legit editorial chops in place. Only I would hire the cast as editorial advisors, not editors.

And By The Way: If I’m Lucky or Grace or even Lifetime Magazine, we’re all going to happy hour tonight.