Word: brill
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...that, for Steve Brill, is just the point. "There's more frustration and confusion and cynicism about the media than ever before," he says--and he's counting on it. Brill is majority owner and editor of Content, a monthly debuting in June that aims to be, as he puts it, "a consumer guide to the information age." What Brill seems to be crafting is a mix of the probity of the gray Columbia Journalism Review and the audacity of the early New York magazine. Sample cover lines: THE 10 LAZIEST WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS AND DIANE SAWYER'S THREE SAPPIEST...
Content is sure to cause some nervous fidgeting in media circles. (We're already screening our calls.) The question is whether it will cause much of a ripple in the rest of the world. Brill is aiming for a circulation of 450,000 to 600,000 at the end of five years--an optimistic goal considering that the Columbia Journalism Review's paid circulation is only 26,000. Brill and his minions have been out hustling ads--he expects at least 40 pages in the launch issue--but some Madison Avenue vets are wary. "I don't think the mass...
...Brill, 47, a blunt, beefy fellow armed with an unlighted cigar and a Tab during a recent interview, may be the right guy with the right idea at the right time. A graduate of Yale law school, he founded the irreverent monthly American Lawyer at age 28 and managed almost from the start to throw a scare into the close-knit legal profession--as well as into his own staff. (A former reporter recalls Brill emerging from his office roaring, "I'm gonna make somebody cry!") Later he created Court TV, which earned high marks for its coverage...
Even before he dubbed himself an official press watchdog, Brill kept a close eye on his own presses. He gave corrections in his magazines prominent play, printing the names of staff members responsible for errors. And he routinely checked with people mentioned in stories to see if they found the reporting fair and accurate. A Florida real estate man once said he loved the story but not the quotes attributed to him; he had never been interviewed. Brill fired the reporter...
...Brill's record as a businessman is less clear-cut. American Lawyer and its sister magazines have never been big moneymakers, and Court TV has struggled to get into the black. Early last year Brill was stymied when he tried to gain full control of his media ventures from partners, including Time Warner (parent company of TIME's publisher), and he wound up selling out to the company instead, a deal that netted him more than $20 million. He'll spend much of that on Content, which he projects will cost $27 million before breaking even. (One of the three...