George (magazine)

Last updated

George
George (magazine).jpg
First issue
CategoriesPolitics magazine
FrequencyMonthly
First issueSeptember 1995
Final issueJanuary 2001
Company Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City
Language English
ISSN 1084-662X

George was a monthly magazine centered on the theme of politics-as-lifestyle founded by John F. Kennedy Jr. and Michael J. Berman with publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in New York City in September 1995. Its tagline was "Not Just Politics As Usual." It was published from 1995 to 2001.

Contents

Overview

For the debut issue, creative director Matt Berman (no relation to co-founder Michael Berman) conceived a cover which received a great deal of attention[ citation needed ] for its image of Cindy Crawford dressed as George Washington photographed by Herb Ritts.

George departed from the format of traditional political publications, whose audience primarily comprised people in or around the political world. The general template for George was similar to magazines such as Rolling Stone , Esquire or Vanity Fair . The consistent underlying theme was to marry the themes of celebrity and media with the subject of politics in such a way that the general public would find political news and discourse about politics more interesting to read.

Notable contributors

Reception

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Washington Journal interview with George executive editor Elizabeth Mitchell, August 18, 1997, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Washington Journal discussion of the George media issue with George editor Gary Ginsberg, Matt Drudge, and Hanna Rosin, April 25, 1998, C-SPAN

When it first appeared, George attracted great interest, and for a brief period had the largest circulation of any political magazine in the nation, partly due to the celebrity status of Kennedy, but it soon began losing money. Kennedy and George occasionally courted controversy to boost sales, one notable example being the 1997 issue wherein Kennedy in his editorial lambasted his cousins Michael Kennedy and Joe Kennedy II, whose marital scandals had recently made news, as "poster boys for bad behavior." [2]

Kennedy later complained that the magazine was not taken seriously in the publishing world.

Critics called George "the political magazine for people who don't understand politics," assailing it for "stripping any and all discussion of political issues from its coverage of politics."[ citation needed ] In a feature in its final issue, Spy magazine asserted that the magazine's premise was flawed because, "Politics overlapped with Pop Culture in such a limited number of ways". [3] That fairly critical profile in Spy described George as "scrambling for celebrities 'with tits' as often as possible to put on the cover and then trying to figure out what that person had to do with politics".

Decline

After Kennedy died in a plane crash in 1999, Hachette Filipacchi Magazines purchased Kennedy's portion of the magazine from his estate and continued for over a year, with Frank Lalli as editor-in-chief. [4] With falling advertising sales, [4] the magazine ceased publication in 2001, two years after Kennedy's death. [5]

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Tenth anniversary discussion at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, C-SPAN

In 2005, Harvard Kennedy School held a panel discussion titled "Not Just Politics as Usual," which commemorated the 10th anniversary of the magazine's launch. The panel was moderated by Tom Brokaw and featured appearances by other journalists. [6]

Back-issue popularity

A February 1997 edition of George with the tagline "Survival Guide to the Future", wherein Kennedy interviews Bill Gates, has become well sought-after by adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, with one copy online being listed at $3,499.99. [7]

Related Research Articles

Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc., originally known as CBS Publications, was a subsidiary of Hachette Filipacchi Médias, and was based in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy Jr.</span> American publisher and son of President John F. Kennedy (1960–1999)

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., often referred to as John-John or JFK Jr., was an American attorney, journalist, socialite, and magazine publisher. He was a son of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael LeMoyne Kennedy</span> Son of Robert F. Kennedy

Michael LeMoyne Kennedy was an American lawyer, businessman, and activist in Massachusetts. He was the sixth of eleven children of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. Kennedy also served as the manager of the non-profit organization Citizens Energy. He died in Aspen, Colorado, in 1997 after inadvertently skiing into a tree.

<i>Hollyoaks</i> British TV soap opera (since 1995)

Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. From 2005 to 2023, episodes have aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. In 2023, Hollyoaks was removed from Channel 4's early evening schedule, but remains on E4 and Channel 4's on demand service with episodes now uploaded to YouTube. At its inception, the soap was targeted towards an adolescent and young adult audience but it has since broadened its appeal to all age groups. Hollyoaks has covered various taboo subjects rarely seen on British television, for which it has received numerous awards. It has won the award for Best British Soap twice, in 2014 and 2019; its first win broke the 15-year tie between rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Beginning with a cast of 15 characters, it now has upwards of 50 regular cast members. The longest-serving actor is Nick Pickard, who has portrayed Tony Hutchinson since the first episode.

Elle Girl was the largest older-teen fashion and beauty magazine brand in the world with twelve editions. Launched in August 2001, it was the younger sister version of Elle magazine, and similarly focused on beauty, health, entertainment and trendsetting bold fashion—its slogan: "Dare to be different". The magazine was published monthly and was based in New York City.

Sugar was a British magazine for teenage girls published by Hachette Filipacchi. Its content focused on boys, fashion, celebrities, real-life stories about teenagers and other similar matters. The editor, when it closed in 2011, was Annabel Brog. The brand lived on until 2016 through the website sugarscape.com. Aimed at females 16–24, it was edited by Kate Lucey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QAnon</span> American conspiracy theory and political movement

QAnon is a far-right American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". Those claims have been relayed and developed by online communities and influencers. Their core belief is that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters is operating a global child sex trafficking ring that conspired against president Donald Trump. QAnon has direct roots in Pizzagate, an Internet conspiracy theory that appeared one year earlier, but also incorporates elements of many other theories. QAnon has been described as a cult.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy</span> President of the United States from 1961 to 1963

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to as JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress prior to his presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Pickard</span> English actor (born 1975)

Nick Pickard is an English actor. He is known for his portrayal of Tony Hutchinson in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, a role he has held since its first episode in 1995; he remains the longest-serving cast member and in 2017, won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Michael J. Berman is an American businessman, responsible for founding George magazine with John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1995. Due to Kennedy's fame, it was the largest magazine launch that year. At the time of the launch, Berman owned a New York public relations firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Metzler Sr.</span> Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery (1909–1990)

John C. Metzler was the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia from 1951 to 1972. Previously, he was a sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jorgie Porter</span> English actress and model (born 1987)

Jorgina Alexandra Porter is an English actress and model. She is known for portraying the role of Theresa McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2008 until 2016 and again from 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death hoax</span> False report of a persons death

A death hoax is a deliberate report of someone's death that is later revealed to be untrue. In some cases, it might be because the person has intentionally faked death.

"Who Pushed P.R.?" is a storyline from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, which began on 23 August 2010 with a special week of episodes. The week culminated in the soap's 6000th episode, where the character Paul Robinson is pushed from the Lassiter's Hotel mezzanine by an unseen assailant. The storyline aired as part of the show's 25th anniversary and Dennis's character was made the focus of the storyline as he was the only remaining member of the original cast. The storyline was initially going to see Paul being shot, but the show's G rating prevented the production team from going ahead with it. Events leading up to and following the attempted murder put several characters in the frame, in the style of a whodunit mystery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy document hoax</span> 1993 American political hoax

In 1993, Lawrence X. Cusack III forged 350 documents from, or relating to, John F. Kennedy, the president of the United States from 1961 to 1963. Some of the forged documents purportedly showed that Kennedy had dealings with organized crime, tax evasion, bribery of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, payment of hush money to actress Marilyn Monroe for being Kennedy's lover, and a secret first marriage.

The Great Storm (<i>Home and Away</i>)

The Great Storm is a group of four episodes of the Australian soap opera Home and Away, broadcast between 5 and 8 September 2011 on Network Seven, during the show's twenty-fourth season. The episodes focused on a severe storm which crosses over the fictional town of Summer Bay and leaves several of the serial's characters in danger. Home and Away's producer Cameron Welsh first announced intention to screen the storyline in June 2011. It was self-described to be the "biggest stunt/disaster storyline" to ever feature in the serial. In the months prior to its screening, the cast filmed a series of stunts for the episodes on a shoot lasting eleven days. It marked the first time that Home and Away used a wide combination of special effects such as FX, green screen, wind machines and rain machines. Along with more time than usual spent filming the block of episodes, the storyline became Home and Away's most expensive to date. Welsh said that the use of machinery became problematic during filming so additional dialogue recordings were added to the scenes during post-production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Schlossberg</span> American journalist (born 1993)

John Bouvier Schlossberg Kennedy is an American journalist. He has written for Time, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Politico, and CNN among others. He became a Vogue magazine political correspondent in 2024.

Diez Minutos is a Spanish language weekly celebrity, entertainment and women's magazine published in Madrid, Spain. The magazine has been in circulation since 1951.

Elizabeth M. Crokin is an American columnist and conspiracy theorist. Since 2017, she has been an outspoken supporter of QAnon conspiracy theories.

Lisa DePaulo is an American journalist, feature magazine writer, correspondent and editor whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, George, Elle, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, GQ, Harper's Bazaar and Philadelphia magazine, among others.

References

  1. DePaulo, Lisa (April 9, 2019). "John F. Kennedy Jr. and George Magazine: A Story of Politics, Love and Loss, 20 Years Later". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  2. "By George, JFK Jr. Bares A Lot." CNN AllPolitics. August 11, 1997. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  3. "Poster Boy for Poster-Boy Behavior". Spy. March 1998. pp. 30–38. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Bercovici, Jeff. "Hachette delivers death ax to George". Media Life Magazine . Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  5. "Reliable Sources: 'George' Folds". CNN Transcripts. January 6, 2001. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  6. Gavel, Doug (October 13, 2005). "'Not just politics as usual' Kennedy School pays tribute to JFK Jr., George". The Harvard Gazette .
  7. Merlan, Anna (February 4, 2022). "A Magazine From 1997 Is Selling For Thousands of Dollars Online Because of QAnon". Vice News. Retrieved February 6, 2022.