Gabriel Sherman

New York Times Iraq correspondent Dexter Filkins will be writing a book about his experience covering terrorism in the Middle East. Filkins' agent Amanda Urban at ICM completed the deal on June 6 with Knopf.

"It'll be less a reported book than a Dispatches," Urban said by phone of Filkins' proposal, referring to Michael Herr's seminal account of the Vietnam war. "Dexter's book will be more impressionistic. He's covered terrorism in one place or another for nine years. He's watched the Twin Towers fall, he's been in Afghanistan and Iraq. It will be a recounting of those experiences...It's no secret that a lot of Iraq books haven't succeeded. The idea here is to write a book that will be an evergreen, that will rise above just an account of the war."

Filkins was in New York last week meeting with publishers before returning to Iraq on Sunday, three days before American forces killed Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In September, Filkins will leave the Times' Baghdad bureau and begin a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, where he will write his book. Knopf editor Jonathan Segal, who bought the proposal for six figures, didn't return a call seeking comment. Urban declined to comment on the advance.

--Gabriel Sherman

With the onset of the hot, gummy months in Washington, D.C., Atlantic staffers are apparently still adjusting to their new home. So on May 31, the magazine's human-resources department sent out a post-Memorial Day memo to remind everyone of the company's "neat and professional" dress code.

"Our policy is intentionally vague and does not specifically exclude certain articles of clothing or types of shoes," Susan Lavigne, Atlantic director of benefits and compensation wrote. Lavigne then went on to specifically exclude certain articles of clothing and types of shoes: "Flip-flops, crop tops, tank tops, spaghetti-strap tops, and shorts (to name a few) are not appropriate." The full memo follows below: --Gabriel Sherman  read more »

The following missive was delivered to Conde Nast staffers May 2 on a heavy, cream-colored card, nine inches by five inches, with perforated silhouettes of forks, knives, and spoons:

Let's do Lunch. This summer step into the future at the new Conde Nast cafeteria on the second floor at 750 Third Avenue.

Enter through a motion corridor with an incandescent glass wall that leads you to the serving area. 70,000 radiant lights create different atmospheres throughout the course of the day.

Restaurant Associates - whose passion for food and attention for detail are highly commended--will manage our newest cafeteria location as well. Breakfast and lunch will be served daily, and special lunchtime offerings will include a sushi bar, custom salad station, international specials and more.

Beginning this summer, employees will be able to use one common card for building access and food purchase in our cafeteria in 750 Third Avenue and 4 Times Square.

Stay tuned for more details as we approach the grand opening and go to connect to see images of cafeteria

--Gabriel Sherman

On May 3, the New York Observer plans to reduce its trim size. The paper's width will shrink from 13 3/4 inches to 12 1/2 inches, making it as wide as The Washington Post. The length will remain at 22 1/2 inches. Editor Peter Kaplan said that the paper will continue to run its normal complement of seven stories on its front page, but in a five-column format rather than the current six. The inside pages will remain six columns. Kaplan said the move should result in "significant savings," cutting around $100,000 in annual newsprint costs. "It's money that I'd rather allocate elsewhere," Kaplan said. "The vitality and well-being of the paper demands that we don't waste money. I thought this is the best way to allocate resources without hurting the advertising and editorial properties. "It gave us a face-lift," Kaplan added, "that we needed." Nancy Butkus designed the new front page. "Nancy Butkus is creating a front page that is strong and decisive, while continuing to evoke the era of The Front Page when New York had 11 dailies," Kaplan said. Before settling on the current dimensions, Kaplan said, the paper had considered going to the much-hailed Berliner format, the elongated quasi-tabloid size adopted by the Guardian and Le Monde. The only American printer, however, with a Berliner capability is being built in Lafayette, Indiana and will not roll its presses until this August. So the New York Observer will publish the same size as other narrow broadsheets.

"We're not narrow, we're svelte," said Kaplan. --Gabriel Sherman

According to two sources with knowledge of Time magazine's search for a new managing editor, Time Inc. editor-in-chief John Huey has approached Slate editor Jacob Weisberg to see if he would be interested in the position.

"I shouldn't say anything about it," Weisberg said by phone. "I love my job and am happy where I am."

Time declined to discuss the subject of a replacement for current managing editor Jim Kelly. "We couldn't be firmer in saying Jim is the guy," Time Inc. spokesperson Dawn Bridges said. "People like to speculate. Jim has the honor of working for the flagship of Time Inc. and Time Warner. The name is on the building, and a lot of things come with that. One of those things is a bigger microscope." But according to multiple sources with knowledge of the search, Time is actively looking for a new managing editor. One source said that Huey has consulted Michael Kinsley, Slate's founding editor, about candidates to consider. According to another source, Time initially approached Weisberg this spring to discuss Time's Internet strategy. Since then, Huey reached out to Weisberg to discuss the managing-editor position.

--Gabriel Sherman

New York Times Style czar Trip Gabriel has a new deputy to helm Thursday Styles. Today, The Times named former deputy regional editor Mary Ann Giordano as the Thursday Styles Deputy Editor. Gabriel said on The Times' internal web site that Giordano, in addition to her Thursday duties, "will have a hand in generating major stories for Sunday Styles and for the front page." --Gabriel Sherman

New York Times Congressional reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg will be moving to cover the White House, filling the paper's last vacancy on that beat. Stolberg will be taking the spot currently held by Elisabeth Bumiller, who is scheduled to go out on book leave in June to spend a year writing a biography of Condoleezza Rice.

"I’m honored the Times thought of me," Stolberg said by phone April 6. "I think I have big shoes to fill."

Earlier this year, White House reporter Richard Stevenson was promoted to deputy Washington bureau chief. His seat was filled by Jim Rutenberg. Times sources said it remains undecided if the Washington bureau will bring in anyone to fill Stolberg's old position. Currently, David Kirkpatrick and Carl Hulse cover Congress. --Gabriel Sherman

Village Voice investigative reporter Jennifer Gonnerman resigned from the paper on Monday, according to Voice sources. Gonnerman, 35, was a Livingston Award winner in 2000 and a National Book Award finalist in 2004. Her 2004 book Life on the Outside chronicled the effects of the Rockefeller drug laws through the story of Elaine Bartlett, a first-time offender sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Gonnerman left to further pursue book writing, Voice sources said. Amid turnover at the Voice, Gonerman was said to have told executives from the paper's new owner, New Times, that they should be tapping into the talent of current staff.

Gonnerman couldn't be reached for comment. Interim editor in chief Ward Harkavy said of her resignation, "I consider that personally and professionally a real loss. I'm saddened by that. Anybody who's worked with her would be saddened by her loss."

--Gabriel Sherman

What's the statute of limitations on being a young talent to watch? Next week, former prodigy Adam Moss, 48, will use New York magazine to anoint the newest Wunderkindergarten class of editors. According to sources with knowledge of the project, the photo spread, with accompanying text by Carl Swanson, will include The New Republic's Franklin Foer (age 31), The Atlantic's James Bennet (39), Harper's Roger Hodge (38), and the Paris Review's Philip Gourevitch (44).

--Gabriel Sherman

The piece that Judith Miller is working on for the Atlantic appears to be a profile of Libya's Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, according to sources familiar with the magazine or with Miller's activities. Earlier this week, Miller told the Media Mob she had recently returned from the Middle East.

According to one source, Miller's Atlantic piece was assigned months ago, before the March 1 appointment of James Bennet to be editor. It is unclear whether Bennet, who was the Times' Jerusalem bureau chief while Miller was reporting on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction for the paper, plans to run the piece. Bennet declined to comment yesterday on Miller's reporting assignment. --Gabriel Sherman

The New York Times is looking for a reporter to move to the White House beat, as the paper continues restoring its depleted Washington bureau. A memo went out to the newsroom this morning announcing the opening and referring interested applicants to the Times' internal newsletter.

The beat has traditionally been shared by three reporters, but the Times has found itself needing to fill two of slots this year. In January, reporter Dick Stevenson was promoted to deputy bureau chief, and Elisabeth Bumiller is scheduled to go away on book leave in June. Jim Rutenberg, currently City Hall bureau chief in New York, has been tapped to take over one of the White House spots this spring.

Bumiler's book project, a biography of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will also cause reshuffling on the State Department beat. Executive editor Bill Keller has told current correspondent Steven Weisman, Bumiller's husband, to vacade the diplomatic beat to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. According to Times sources, Helene Cooper, currently an assistant editor on the Times' editorial board, will transfer back to the news pages this summer to take over for Weisman. Cooper was an assistant D.C. bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal before coming to the Times. --Gabriel Sherman

A source at the Atlantic confirms that former New York Times reporter/journalistic privilege test case Judith Miller is working on a piece for the magazine. The possibility of Miller's return to writing was first reported yesterday by Gawker. According to the Atlantic source, Miller is working on a reported piece--and not a first-person account of her crisis at the Times, like Howell Raines' 20,000-odd word Atlantic piece of May 2004.

Newly appointed Atlantic editor James Bennet does not yet have a working phone line. Reached by phone, Miller declined to comment on her Atlantic assignment. "I just got back from the Middle East," she said. "I can’t talk right now."

--Gabriel Sherman

Washington Post Style reporter Mark Leibovich learned the dangers of jumping to the rival New York Times this week. On Wednesday, a day after the news broke that Leibovich woudl be ankling the Post for the Times' Washington bureau, a newsroom prankster affixed a sign on the back of Leibovich's shirt reading "Traitor."

Leibovich preceded to walk around the Post's fourth floor newsroom with the sign on his back for 45 minutes until a merciful colleague alerted him to it. Shortly thereafter, White House correspondent Dana Milbank sent an email to Post staffers naming the culprit as columnist David Broder.

Leibovich confirmed the episode by phone.

"I wouldn't classify that as emblematic of a hostile reaction across the board. I thought it was hilarious. It was one of those situations where the batter has to tip his hat to the pitcher and walk back to the dugout," he said, adding: "I have wonderful friends here and I just have to laugh about it."

Asked if he had been responsible for the sign himself, Milbank insisted that Broder was the guilty party. "David left the New York Times I believe 42 years ago," Milbank said. "The guy can't give up this grudge. You know, I saw him do it. Admitedly, I didn't tell Mark he had a fourth grade sticker on his back. It was none other than David Broder, dean of the Washington press corps."

Broder was traveling and unavailable for comment. --Gabriel Sherman

The New York Times Washington bureau has made its second outside hire this month, grabbing Washington Post Style reporter Mark Leibovich.

Last week, the bureau raided the Los Angeles Times for Pentagon reporter Mark Mazzetti. Both additions to the depleted bureau have come despite a paper-wide hiring freeze.

Leibovich accepted the job this morning, and will begin in several weeks. He confirmed the move by phone today.

"The job I have now I've thoroughly enjoyed," he said. "I love the Washington Post and the thought of leaving here is really difficult. But I like the risk involved and the upside. [At the Times] there'll be a lot of profiles and culture pieces. I don't think I'll be covering a lot of hearings."

Last summer, Leibovich turned down an offer of a Times post that would have been split between the D.C. bureau and the Styles desk in New York. His new position is solely dedicated to the Washington bureau.

--Gabriel Sherman

The New York Times plugged one of the holes in its Washington bureau this week by hiring Pentagon reporter Mark Mazzetti away from the Los Angeles Times.

"It was an agonizing decision because this place is fantastic, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity," Mazzetti, 31, said by phone March 10.

Mazzetti had been with the L.A. Times for about two years. Before that, he covered defense at U.S. News and World Report. He got started in journalistm as an intern in the Economist's Washington bureau.

The New York Times, which has been under a hiring freeze since last year, made an exception for the Washington bureau. The D.C. outpost has seen its reporting ranks heavily depleted, with the departures of Jeff Gerth and Todd Purdum, the retirement of David Rosenbaum (who was later murdered), and the promotion of Douglas Jehl and Richard Stevenson to editing posts. Mazzetti is scheduled to start at the Times next month.

--Gabriel Sherman

This afternoon, Conde Nast group president Mitchell Fox confirmed the news that the company is splitting the former Fairchild trade titles into two separate divisions, Fairchild Fashion Group and Fairchild Publications. Memo after the jump.

--Gabriel Sherman  read more »

New York Times publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. gave the first of his 2006 State of the Times addresses at 10:30 this morning at the New Amsterdam Theatre. In his opening remarks, Sulzberger discussed the paper's efforts to expand its online and digital operations in a newspaper industry that's mired in struggle. "The intro was clearly about how tumultuous things are," one staffer said.

Things were also a bit tumultuous in the open question-and-answer period following Sulzberger's scripted remarks. Several staffers asked Sulzberger about stock grants awarded to senior Times executives, citing an Observer report that showed Sulzberger receiving some $800,000 in shares in 2005, while CEO Janet Robinson received $2 million in shares and $4 million in options.

In response, Sulzberger told the audience that his compensation is set at 60 percent of what average executives in his position earn.

Staffers also asked the publisher why he had ended the employee stock-purchase program, which had allowed staffers to buy New York Times Company stock at a 15 percent discount. Sulzberger said the decision to eliminate the program was a "painful choice to make," according to a staffer present--but that since the New York Times' stock isn't gaining value, "staffers shouldn't worry about it."

--Gabriel Sherman

Outside magazine, the Santa Fe, N.M-based adventure-sports monthly, has named Texas Monthly editorial director Christopher Keyes as its new editor. The position had been empty for two months, since editor Hal Espen left the stubble-chinned monthly to pursue freelance writing. According to a source familiar with the search, Outside's owner and editor-in-chief Lawrence Burke considered Outside's current editorial director Alex Heard before choosing Keyes. Keyes began his magazine career at Outside as an intern in 1999. --Gabriel Sherman

Former New York Times Washington editor Kate Phillips has returned to the bureau as a reporter. The former number two rejoined the bureau on Wednesday and will cover lobbying and politics.

"I'm just glad to be back," Phillips said by phone March 2. Washington bureau chief Phil Taubman sent Phillips flowers welcoming her back to the bureau, according to two sources. In December, Phillips departed the Washington editorship after only 11 months. In January, the Times disolved the position of Washington editor and split the duties among three deputies. --Gabriel Sherman

New Republic editor Peter Beinart is not going to be the next editor of The Atlantic, he told the Observer two weeks ago. But he may not be editor of The New Republic much longer, either. Persistent Beltway rumor has Beinart stepping down from his post, to be replaced by TNR senior editor Franklin Foer. An announcement could come as early as Tuesday.

[Update: In a story for tomorrow's paper, posted on the Web this evening, The New York Times confirms that Foer is replacing Beinart.]

"I'm not going to confirm anything," New Republic owner and editor-in-chief Martin Peretz said by phone this afternoon, as he prepared to catch a flight to Israel. "Call me tomorrow."

Neither Beinart nor Foer returned calls seeking comment.

Beinart has been editor of the weekly since November of 1999. His presence has diminished recently, however. For much of the last year, he was on leave writing The Good Fight, a book based on a 6,000-word meditation on John Kerry's defeat he wrote for TNR in 2004. The book is due out from HarperCollins in June.

Foer has recently been courted by The New York Times, which hoped to hire him to write about the culture of Washington, D.C.

Some New Republic staffers said they were unaware of any pending masthead changes.

"I don't know what's going on," one staffer said. "Beinart is definitely back and 90 percent of where he was before. Before the book, he was committed 24 hours [a day] to TNR. Now it's 20 hours. He's still very committed, but with the understandable coda that he's writing his book."

--Gabriel Sherman

On the first of this month, incoming Dow Jones CEO Rich Zannino said hello--"we...have an ever-expanding passion for winning"--while outgoing CEO Peter Kann said goodbye--"I....look back on decisions I wish I had made differently." Full twin memos after the jump.

--Gabriel Sherman  read more »

Today hostess Ann Curry is in trouble with the neighbors for renovations on her West 71st Street townhouse, Page Six reports today.

It's folded into a report about turmoil at The Today Show.

But we were interested in what she's actually doing to the place and--lo and behold!--it was erstwhile Manhattan Transfers reporter Gabriel Sherman who first reported Ms. Curry's purchase.

She and her software-executive husband Brian Wilson bought the 6,000-square-foot place, built in 1894, for $2.9 million, but it was configured as apartments and Ms. Curry is remaking it into a single-family with a 600-square-foot roof terrace and a private rear garden.  read more »

"It's a turn-of-the-century house with much of its original charm intact, but it needs tremendous T.L.C.," Ms. Curry told Gabe in our Jan. 19, 2004 issue. "I can already see the making of a home for my family."

But can she hear it?