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Re: US Magazine losing subscribers over Palin attacks
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Three celebrity weeklies '” OK!, People and Us Weekly '” featured Sarah Palin on their cover, but one of those magazines is reportedly losing subscribers because of it.
Us Weekly, which unlike People and OK!, chose a rather caustic cover line ('Babies, Lies and Scandal') is said to have lost thousands of subscribers in just the first 24 hours following the printing of the issue.
'I'm hearing it's 5,000, maybe more,' says one well-placed source in the industry. Another source claimed that as many as 10,000 readers have already cancelled their subscriptions. A spokesperson for Wenner Media, which publishes Us, says 'it is completely false that we are losing 10,000 subscribers.' As for the 5,000 estimate, the spokesperson only said 'that is false, too,' but wouldn't comment further.
Five thousand might not seem like a large number at first glance, but it's significant in the context of Us's printing schedule. The magazine goes to press Monday night, which means subscribers don't receive their issues until Friday or Saturday. In other words, the cancellations are coming from subscribers who, in many cases, haven't even gotten their hands on the actual issue.
'When Us went to print Monday night, it looked like the ticket was falling apart," says one magazine editor. 'They went to print thinking Palin was dead in the water, and their mistake was thinking everyone who reads Us is a Democrat, when they're not. Readers are loyal, but the base of a political party is more loyal. They don't need to read the magazine when there's so much press around it to know to be upset.'
Upset might be an understatement: One Us advertiser has admitted that they've received calls from angry former subscribers threatening to boycott their products. '(Us publisher) Jann Wenner supports Obama, Wenner media decided to follow the buzz around Palin before her speech, and now subscribers feel like a vote has been cast on their behalf," says another magazine editor. 'It's going to be tough to bounce back from this one. Especially if the advertisers get involved. If they get nervous, that can hurt all of us.'
Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey has issued a statement responding to a report that she'll have Palin on her show. 'The item in today's Drudge Report is categorically untrue,' Winfrey's statement read. 'There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.'
Re: US Magazine losing subscribers over Palin attacks
I think it's rather disappointing how much the media is just flat out sexist. Blatant.
They gave Hilary absolute hell during the primaries, ALWAYS making her look bad so their beloved "rock star" would win, and they are taking it to Sarah even worse because she's a Republican.
Dispicable.