Revolving Door Newsletter: 09.11.12

Hachette Gets A New CEO; Oxford American Finds A New Editor

September 11, 2012

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Michael Pietsch ascends to the top of Hachette Book Group, replacing David Young, who returns to the U.K. where he'll be deputy chief executive of Hachette UK and CEO of Orion Publishing Group. (Young, in turn, takes over for the retiring Peter Roche.) Pietsch had been executive vice president of the company's U.S.-based operations and publisher of Little, Brown and Company. He's been in the latter position for the past 11 years and will work to find his own replacement. The moves trigger another promotion further down the executive chain, as HBG chief operating officer Ken Michaels gets bumped up to president and COO...

The Oxford American gains a measure of stability, naming Roger Hodge as editor. Previous editor Marc Smirnoff, the only one in the magazine's 20-year history, was fired in July after sexual harassment and improper conduct claims came to light. Hodge, who plans to add "more journalism" to the publication, previously edited Harper's, which he left under confusing circumstances... Paul Cheesbrough has landed a big promotion. He was the top tech exec at News International, and was chosen by Rupert Murdoch to lead News Corp.'s global strategy for digital publishing. Now, as the chief technical officer, he'll help manage the company split... Seventeen promotes Bethany Heitman from features director to executive editor and Kaitlin Menza is upped to lifestyle editor. Additionally, Betsy Fast joins as site director from DoSomething.org, where she had been editor-in-chief... Better Homes and Gardens promotes a host of staffers, including Greg Kayko to managing editor and Kelly Ryan Kegans to assistant deputy editor... Marc Ambinder is now a blogger for The Week, launching a site called The Compass that focuses on politics, technology, culture and more...

Ken Lerer is serious about his video news service, NowThisNews (neé Planet Daily). The idea is to compete with CNN, so the Huffington Post founder went out and recruited Eason Jordan as general manager. Jordan spent 23 years at CNN before leaving in 2005. Additional staffers include editor-in-chief Ed O'Keefe (an ex-ABC News digital dude) and former Washington Post digital news head Katharine Zaleski... Vox Media hires Callie Schweitzer as director of marketing and special projects. The 23-year-old had been deputy publisher of Talking Points Memo, a job she landed just six months ago. Avi Zimak joins Outbrain as national sales director. He came from Hearst Tablet Media, where he was advertising director. CQ and Roll Call are merging, a move that should surprise exactly no one...

John Paulson, CEO of G2 USA, leaves after four years in the top spot. His replacement is unnamed, although word on the street says the company already hired one... Letitia Jacobs joins Young & Rubicam New York as executive director of content production... Publicis Kaplan Thaler hands longtime staffer Lisa Bifulco the title of chief production officer. She's been with the company since 1997... Ian Sohn returns to Ogilvy after leaving to join Tap.Me... And there are changes at Oxygen Media, Viacom and more...

September 11, 2012: Avi Zimak has been named national sales director at Outbrain. He had been advertising director at Hearst Tablet Media. (release)

September 11, 2012: Matt Rosenberg has been named VP of marketing at Taykey. He had been VP of solutions at SAY Media. (mb)

September 11, 2012: Ronen Shapiro has been named senior sales manager at Pandora. He had been spirits director at Complex. (mb)

September 11, 2012: Sean Besser has been named EVP of business development, partnerships and strategy at GetGlue. He had been EVP of business development, partnerships and strategy at Rovi Corporation. (mb)

September 11, 2012: Jihan Thompson has been named health editor at The Oprah Magazine. She had been articles editor at Redbook. (release)

September 11, 2012: Leigh Haber has been named books editor at The Oprah Magazine. She had been editor-at-large at Chronicle Books. (release)

September 11, 2012: Kirby Rodriguez has been named design director at The Oprah Magazine. He had been associate creative director of photography at Talbots. (release)

September 11, 2012: Scott Mills has been named EVP of human resources and administration at Viacom. He had been president and COO of BET Networks there. (release)

September 11, 2012: Joel Curran has been named managing director of MSL New York at MSLGROUP. He had been managing director of Midwest operations there. (release)

September 11, 2012: Jonas Abney has been named VP of U.S. sales at Maxifier. He had been head of publisher development and publishing operations at Zumobi. (mb)

September 11, 2012: Jason Nikic has been named sales development director at Car and Driver and Road & Track. He had been integrated sales manager at the Atlantic Media Company. (mb)

September 11, 2012: Lauren Musacchio has been named assistant editor at Rolling Stone. She had been editorial assistant at Wenner Media. (mb)

September 11, 2012: Tracey Lewis-Giggetts has been named managing editor at CLC Publications. She had been consultant at Temple University. (mb)

September 10, 2012: Keosha Johnson has been named social media strategist at American Clean Skies Foundation. She had been new media editor/producer at WBUR in Boston. (mb)

September 10, 2012: Michael Pietsch has been named CEO at Hachette Book Group. He had been publisher at Little, Brown and Company. (GalleyCat)

September 10, 2012: Eason Jordan has been named general manager at Now This News. He had been co-founder and CEO at Poll Position. (TVNewser)

September 10, 2012: Roger Guillen has been named SVP and creative director at Oxygen Media. He had been VP, Olympic creative director at NBC Sports. (release)

September 10, 2012: Oscar Leon Walker has been named sales director of EPMG-East at EPMG. He had been account director at re:fuel. (release)

September 10, 2012: Kaitlin Menza has been named lifestyle editor at Seventeen. She had been associate lifestyle editor there. (release)

September 10, 2012: Betsy Fast has been named site director at Seventeen. She had been editor-in-chief at DoSomething.org. (release)

September 10, 2012: Bethany Heitman has been named executive editor at Seventeen. She had been features director at Cosmopolitan. (release)

September 7, 2012: Leah Bourne has been named senior editor at StyleCaster Media Group. She had been associate editor at Forbes. (mb)

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