Former Fortune mag leader Huey reminisces

Cyndi Stivers of Columbia Journalism Review interviewed outgoing Time Inc. leader John Huey, who once ran Fortune magazine, about his career.

Here is an excerpt:

What was the stickiest wicket you encountered while leading Time Inc.? Journalistically, leading Time Inc. didn’t prove to be as sticky as some of the things I encountered while editing Fortune, mostly because the editors I worked with were just so damned good at what they did. At Fortune, I had the challenge of covering stories like the AOL Time Warner merger, from which we did not shrink in the least. But I always knew I had the backing of (then-editor in chief) Norman Pearlstine and (then-CEO) Don Logan. As editor in chief, my toughest challenge has been trying to lead through some very difficult business conditions without sacrificing the quality, integrity, and distinctiveness of our journalism. I give myself a good grade for that, but then I would, wouldn’t I?

What was the most indelible magazine cover on your watch? Honestly, I think those covers belong to the editors of the individual magazines. At Fortune, I had so much fun making covers that it’s hard to remember. But probably winning a bet with Steve Jobs that our photographer, Michael O’Neill, could take a better portrait of him than his own photographer was as satisfying as any.

Read more here.

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.