Men’s Mags Opt for Trendy Make-Overs

Five years after the launch of Men’s Journal, you need a magnifying glass to spot what may be the most significant change in a while. Jann S. Wenner, who founded and owns the sister publication to Rolling Stone, no longer lists himself at the top of the masthead as editor in chief. The lead spot belongs to the new editor, Terry McDonell, who rejoined his former associate last summer as the magazine was nearing profitability with a monthly circulation of 550,000.

Now, in a bid for the proverbial “next level,” McDonell is broadening Men’s Journal beyond its roots in outdoor sports and adventure, giving the magazine what seems like a tilt in GQ’s direction. In the December / January double issue, writer Lisa DePaulo transcends the tabloid tattle of Frank Gifford’s recent hotel-room fling and explores why this former hero of the Kennedy era ended up “with a woman who spells Suzen with a z.”

“I’m going to try to expand the horizons of the magazine to include more literary journalism and reportage and the kinds of stories that reflect ideas alive in the culture,” McDonell said.

McDonell, 53, a former managing editor of Rolling Stone, went on to widen the franchise of the two magazines that he ran before joining Men’s Journal. While editor in chief of Esquire, from 1990 to 1993, he spun off Esquire Sportsman and the fashionable Esquire Gentleman (both since discontinued). Then, as editor and publisher of Sports Afield, he added literary heft to the century-old title, which earned two National Magazine Award nominations last spring. This week, McDonell boasted that he has three Pulitzer Prize winners on assignment--Richard Ben Cramer, Richard Ford and Philip Caputo.

McDonell emphasized that Men’s Journal will continue to cover health, fitness and the latest guy gear and gadgets. As it now says under the Men’s Journal logo, the mag is about “Sports, Fitness, Adventure, Ideas.”

Meanwhile, John Atwood, the former executive editor of Men’s Journal, has settled in as the new editor in chief of Sports Afield. As McDonell’s successor, the 42-year-old Atwood has begun his own broadening effort: “We are taking one foot out of the hunting and fishing category and moving into outdoor recreation, going more head-to-head with Outside and less so with Field & Stream and Outdoor Life.” He added that extensive surveys have identified a growing interest among readers in camping, white-water rafting, mountain biking and such, creating the need for what he calls “a more complete outdoor magazine.”

Besides repositioning the editorial approach, Atwood is working to introduce the magazine to the uninitiated and has given the winter double issue a pair of covers. A more traditional image of a hunter crouching in the snow was sent to subscribers; a snowshoer on the march has been put on newsstands in a play for those newcomers who may have thought this was still their father’s Sports Afield.

Sports Afield, published by Hearst Magazines, posted a circulation of 459,000 in the first half of this year.

More Buzz Than Sales: Given the author, it’s hard to avoid the image: Former Air Force flier Kelly Flinn’s book is losing altitude, veering off course . . . you get the idea.

“Proud to Be,” subtitled “My Life, the Air Force, the Controversy,” was snapped up by Random House after Flinn led the news last spring, having lied about an adulterous affair and having received a general discharge from the military. The book went on sale before Thanksgiving with the benefit of an author interview with Barbara Walters on ABC. But last Thursday, “Proud to Be” did not register among the top 150 sellers in the country, as measured by USA Today.

Seeing that Random House paid Flinn $1 million or more, believing her story would hold wide appeal for women, Flinn’s rocky flight is looking like one of the bigger miscalculations of the fall season.

Meanwhile, joining Flinn on the sidelines is Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux, the 98-year-old Kansas woman who was besieged by publishers in March after a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal described how she had written a touching memoir about her small-town life. Later, Warner Books prevailed in a daylong auction for her memoir by making a seven-figure offer.

Published on Nov. 1, Foveaux’ “Any Given Day,” billed as a memoir of 20th century America, also has fallen short of the national bestseller lists. Its performance further illustrates that what generates news interest one week, and then swiftly grabs the attention of ever-hopeful publishers, does not necessarily translate into book sales months later.

Afterwords: The Dec. 10 issue of the Sporting News unveils its long-awaited change in format--from a tabloid-size newspaper to a more colorful magazine. It’s published by Times Mirror Corp., which also owns The Times.

* Colford is a columnist for Newsday. His e-mail address is paul.colford@newsday.com. His column is published Thursdays.