Categories: OLD Media Moves

Serwer trying to woo back those who left Fortune

Michael Calderone of the New York Observer interviews Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer about his first six months on the job and notes that he’s trying to bring back some staff members who left in recent years.

Betsy Morris, who left Fortune last year for Conde Nast Portfolio, recently returned to the Time Inc. glossy.

Calderone wrote, “Mr. Serwer said that he still considers BusinessWeek and The New York Times to be his primary competition, not the upstart glossy.

“‘I think theyâ€™re going to be competing more against Vanity Fair than us’ he said. ‘Isn’t that the same company?’

“Competition or not, Portfolio has dug deep into Newhouse coffers to successfully raid magazine mastheads.

“But Mr. Serwer is apparently ready to answer back, and has extended offers to staffers who fled during Eric Pooleyâ€™s tumultuous 18-month tenure as managing editor, according to a Fortune staffer.

“Although there is not a ‘blanket offer,’ said another staffer, Mr. Serwer has not been shy about making overtures.

“And Ms. Morris was not the only Fortune-turned-Portfolio staffer heâ€™s tried to bring back in the ranks.

“Mr. Serwer reached out to Portfolio senior writer Dan Roth, and the two met up last fall, according to a source. But Mr. Roth didnâ€™t budge from 4 Times Square.”

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.