Consumer Reports editor Salvatore departs; Kunes named editorial director of print

Diane Salvatore

Diane Salvatore, editor in chief of Consumer Reports magazine for the past six years, has left the publication, a spokeswoman confirmed to Talking Biz News.

She has been editor in chief since May 2015.

Consumer Reports provided the following statement:

We are changing the leadership structure of our print publications to continue Consumer Reports’ transformation into a robust multimedia organization and create a more seamless consumer experience across our print and digital products.
CR has remained stronger than many other media organizations in terms of membership and audience for the magazine. It remains a key contributor to CR’s impact on the marketplace and as a source of revenue for the organization.

Ellen Kunes will now run the company’s print publications with a newly created title of editorial director of print, which is parallel to the position of editorial director of digital, now held by Erle Norton.

Kunes and Norton will work together to develop multimedia content for members and new audiences. Kunes had been deputy director of content development.

Salvatore was in charge of reshaping the editorial strategy and creative vision for Consumer Reports’ flagship print product, creating new opportunities for the magazine’s integration with its digital properties, and continuing to expand its coverage of the critical issues facing consumers.

Salvatore joined Consumer Reports in 2013 as senior director of content strategy and development. Prior to that she was the editor-in-chief at both Prevention and Ladies’ Home Journal. She was also executive editor of Good Housekeeping and senior editor at Redbook.

She also spent a year at Random House as a vice president.

Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports has more than 3.6 million subscribers and is a $100 million revenue business. It accepts no advertising. Its website’s audience includes 2.9 million paying members and more than 15 million unique visitors monthly, on average. Last year, Consumer Reports received $6 million from Craig Newmark Philanthropies.

It has an editorial staff of approximately 140.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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Victor E Sasson says:
September 23, 2020 at 9:00 am
I'd like to congratulate Ellen Kunes in her new role at Consumer Reports, and ask her a question long on the minds of readers who are alarmed about climate change and care about the environment: When is Consumers Union and CR magazine going to publish an annual Auto Issue that reflects the incredible damage to our environment and tens of thousands of premature deaths from tailpipe emissions caused by gas and diesel-powered cars and trucks????? In other words, when are the auto editors going to stop business as usual -- praising better gas mileage in pickup trucks, heaping praise on Subaru despite how few hybrid cars the Japanese maker produces, and picking gas-guzzling SUVs as Top 10 vehicles, even when gas-electric hybrid versions are offered -- and evaluate every vehicle on their efficiency. So, next April's Top 10 would have to have a hybrid or EV drivetrain to make the list. Manufacturers who support a rollback of EPA mileage standards would be criticized and readers would be urged to boycott their vehicles. Please, no more business as usual in your auto segment.