A Change In Leadership (And No Recount)

By NORMAN PEARLSTINE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

While George W. Bush and Al Gore were engaging in their historic presidential tug-of-war, TIME was also making a change of leadership, although without any rancor and contentiousness. I am pleased to report that Walter Isaacson, who has been managing editor of TIME for the past five years, will become editorial director of Time Inc., the Time Warner division that publishes more than 40 magazines, including TIME, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, PEOPLE, FORTUNE, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, MONEY and INSTYLE. Walter's successor as TIME's 15th managing editor will be Jim Kelly, who is moving up from his role as deputy managing editor. The changes will take place Jan. 1.

Editorial director is the second highest editorial position in the company. Walter will work with me to provide overall guidance and strategy for Time Inc.'s magazines. In addition, he will serve as our primary liaison with CNN and, upon completion of its proposed merger with Time Warner, America Online Inc., in which roles he'll explore opportunities for our editorial content on television and online.

Walter is no stranger to electronic media. He helped bring TIME into the online world in 1992 with an early alliance with AOL, and he served as Time Inc.'s editor of new media before returning to take the top job at TIME. A native of New Orleans, Walter joined TIME in 1978 after stints at the Sunday Times of London and his hometown Times-Picayune/States-Item. He has held a series of key positions at TIME, including editor of the Nation section and assistant managing editor.

When Walter took TIME's helm, media critics were convinced that newsweeklies had seen better days, especially with talk of 500 cable channels--and that was before the Internet, with its myriad possibilities, exploded onto the scene. Yet Walter and his staff have proved the pundits wrong, making TIME a lively, incisive and must-read magazine. He brought to the job his passion for politics, technology, business and social issues. He also brought a new generation of young writers to TIME and made it a fun and exciting place to work. As a result, today's TIME is a crisply written, deeply reported magazine that captures the magic and fascination of a wide variety of stories and trends that affect our lives.

I would include among the most memorable stories that appeared during Walter's tenure the intellectually fascinating TIME 100 series that culminated with the selection of Albert Einstein as the Person of the Century; two enterprising series by Don Barlett and Jim Steele that investigated corporate welfare and campaign finance; and Walter's own writing, including his profile of Bill Gates, which remains the best piece I have ever read on the Microsoft billionaire. But even more important than these highlights was TIME's editorial consistency, its cruising speed, which also rose to new levels.

Managing editors at Time Inc. bring to their jobs a ferocious commitment to editorial independence. At the same time, we expect them to work closely with their business colleagues to assure that our publications are financial as well as journalistic successes. Walter's close working relationship with TIME's president Bruce Hallett exemplified the teamwork that we encourage and produced stunning results. Between 1995 and 1999, TIME's advertising revenues increased 63%, and ad pages are up 35%, to more than 3,000 annually. This year TIME is headed for another record. And thanks to you, TIME remains the world's leading newsweekly, with more than 28 million readers.

Magazines are not democracies (just ask our writers), but if we had put the choice of Walter's successor as managing editor to a vote, I have no doubt staff members would have elected Jim Kelly unanimously. Jim has been Walter's partner in success, filling a role that not only demands his proven talents as an editor but also calls on him to be the magazine's top administrator. Either task is difficult; Jim has handled both flawlessly.

Jim joined the magazine not long after graduating from Princeton in 1977--after a brief flirtation with politics steered him to journalism. At TIME he's been a writer in the Nation section, our press critic and editor of the World section. As deputy managing editor, he has spearheaded a number of special projects, including this year's provocative Visions special editions. As Walter says, "Jim has a wonderful feel for making great magazines and relishing smart reporting." His superb abilities as an editor and his unerring instincts in keeping your interests foremost make him the perfect choice to lead TIME.

Norman Pearlstine, Editor-in-Chief