Publicist to the stars Ken Sunshine spent a good portion of his face-time on a panel at the American Magazine Conference — entitled, naturally, "Celebs and Magazines" — blasting the blogosphere for what he called "careless" journalism and "Gotcha!"-style antics.

Sunshine also accused the unnamed blogs of blatant copyright infringement with respect to posting images.

"I wish Time Warner and others would go after them," he said.

Sunshine didn't limit his criticism of celebrity media to "pajama people." He said celebrities have limited magazine journalists' access because they've been burned before. In one instance in particular, Sunshine said Leonardo DiCaprio had granted unrestricted access to Time for a cover story, only to have the magazine print, among other things, his grocery bill. "You think Leo's going to be trusting of these journalists after that?"

People group editor Martha Nelson was also critical of the rampant "misinformation and speculation" and "sheer lies" proliferated by the blogosphere. "As a news organization, [dealing with what is published on blogs] it is a big waste of time."

Said Nelson: "They're sitting there in their pajamas making it up."

Sunshine pointed to his client Lance Bass' coming out in People as a direct response to the "unfathomable ridicule" the ex-'NSync star was receiving online.

"He came to me and said 'What do I do?' ... He never wanted to [come out in the press]," Sunshine said. "[But] some of these bloggers are just horrific."

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Robert Kennedy Jr. blasted everyone from polluters to politicians to the press today during a speech today at the American Magazine Conference in Phoenix that was, by his own admission, a long, rambling, passionate digression.

"We have a negligent press in this country," Kennedy Jr. said, one that has "let the American people down" by not covering what he called the "worst environmental White House we've ever had in history, bar none."

Kennedy Jr. spoke without notes and, it seemed, without taking a breath — his voice often cracking during a spirituality-tinged monologue you might hear on a platform waiting for the F train.

Kennedy Jr. said that media consolidation that began in the Reagan administration has devolved to a state where news divisions are "corporate profit centers." And he blamed the press for not getting the story of corrupt polluters out there, instead pandering to the "reptillian part of our brains."

"We know more about Tom and Katie than we do about global warming," Kennedy Jr. said. "We're the most entertained, least informed people in the world."

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

FishbowlNY's AMC 2006 Coverage:

Remnick, right, with New York's Adam Moss and Jann Wenner at the 2006 National Magazine Awards, has spawned groupies once reserved for bands featured in Rolling Stone

We're not sure if this is an indictment of American celebrity or just plain sad, but shuffling between the cigar bar at the American Magazine Conference's "late-night DJ party" and the bar at the Arizona Biltmore we encountered what can only be described as "magazine executive groupies," who had crashed the after-hours portion of the conference with the express purpose of meeting New Yorker editor David Remnick and, if not Remnick, Jane editor Brandon Holley.

Armed with vague sounding business cards, the groupies, however, went home disappointed. "We heard he left right after his Obama interview," said one of the "groupies" who asked not to be identified. "We saw the schedule online and just decided to show up," another said. "Plus, we're sick of Phoenix and want better jobs."

Holley, who did not partake in the cigar smoking session, bolted before the "groupies" could get to her.

These were not the only magazine groupies to surface at AMC. Other "attendees" without laminates left the conference hall hauling armfuls of complimentary general interest magazines, multiple copies of Playboy in tow.

"They probably just wanted something to read by the pool," a fellow attendee said.

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

FishbowlNY's AMC 2006 Coverage:

Roughly a year removed from blasting magazine circulation metrics in his remarks as chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America at the 2005 American Magazine Conference, Hachette president and CEO Jack Kliger was defiant in his spin on the industry's spate of magazine closings at this year's pow-wow:

We should be willing to eliminate unproductive products without fearing that thinning the herd means we are signaling our industry's demise. Because closing a magazine is no more a sign of the death of the industry than the cancellation of a TV series means the shutdown of a network, or a haircut is a sign that you're going bald. Most of the time, it's quite the opposite.

Kliger, whose Hachette Filipacchi shuttered the print version of Elle Girl earlier this year, clearly hasn't seen Bruce Willis recently.

Still, the message of his talking points was clear: "Let's take full advantage of the power of our brands. And let's use technology to go 'beyond the page.'"

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

FishbowlNY's AMC 2006 Coverage:

While addressing the 18 Time Inc. titles currently on the block during a panel entitled "Just What Business Are We In?" here at the American Magazine Conference, Time Inc. chief Ann Moore said overseeing the company's magazines is "like having 149 children that need to go to college at the same time."

By college, Moore meant "online," and overseeing the brands traverse an often rickety, handmade rope bridge to Internet success is partly the reason Time Inc. put its Time 4 media and Parenting groups up for sale. "By the time I could et to all 149, [some of] those titles would be left behind."

Moore said all 18 magazines are "profitable, most #1 in their categories" but not growing at a sustainable rate. Moore deflected the larger M&A rumors, saying "Time Inc. is not for sale."

Co-panelist Steve Murphy, CEO of Rodale, cautioned publishers not to bite off more technology than they can chew: "We're not a technology company." Murphy added that the industry is "on thin ice, but we're going to skate across it."

Moore, who has overseen several rounds of job cuts at Time Inc., seemed to have a bit more optimistic view. "When I walk out of a meeting in [Time Warner CEO] Dick Parsons' office, I feel like we're going to be the last man standing [online]," Moore said. "I don't feel we're getting our story out."

Moore also blasted the media and bloggers for a lack of "fact checking," allowing rumors to migrate "to the mainstream press."

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

FishbowlNY's AMC 2006 Coverage:

In a splashy presentation at the 2006 American Magazine Conference, R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg warned magazine executives to not fall asleep at the wheel when it comes to the potential of the Internet, and to push change rather than react to it, and to become "fearless in spite of quarterly reports."

"Content doesn't end at publication," Greenberg said while showing off his New York-based advertising agency's campaigns and interactive Web sites built for mega-clients like Nike and the relaunched Nike.com.

Greenberg, whose left arm was in a stylish black sling, also warned advertising agencies of losing focus on the customers. "It's almost like we're in a Bob Woodward State of Denial," Greenberg said. "Consumers never like ads as much as agencies like making them."

Greenberg pointed to illuminating if obvious case studies of companies losing focus. "Sony created the Walkman, but fell asleep at the wheel with the iPod."

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

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That was the question put bluntly by Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson, he of The Long Tail, to Daniel Rosensweig, COO of Yahoo during an American Magazine Conference session that, ironically, was followed by one with Google ad VP Tim Armstrong.

Rosensweig, who now finds himself battling the Yahoo vs. Google comparison in a new, YouTube light, sidestepped the question, pointing out that Yahoo properties Flickr and de.li.cio.us, once buzzed-about Web properties, are perceived to lose their buzz despite performances. "Things are hot until they are bought; then no one talks about them."

"Unfortunately, perceptions do matter," Anderson said.

The perception of Yahoo at AMC was, unfortunately, one of lacking "mojo." The headline of a front-page Advertising Age article — delivered to the rooms of AMC attendees — read: "Yahoo needs to find its 2.0 mojo; online display won't cut it today." Earlier in the day, R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg compared Yahoo to News Corp.: "How did Yahoo begin looking old and Rupert Murdoch begin looking young?"

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

FishbowlNY's AMC 2006 Coverage:

"I inhaled — that was the point."

That was what Illinois Senator Barack Obama, currently on a book tour that may or may not segue into a run for the 2008 presidency, said to New Yorker editor David Remnick this afternoon at the American Magazine Conference, after Remnick asked Obama whether or not his admission of drug use in the book would become problematic if he does, if fact, run for president.

The softspoken Obama, who during an appearance on Meet The Press yesterday admitted he would consider a run for the White House, openly criticized the Bush administration in front of 500 or so magazine executives during a wide-ranging, 45-minute discussion, occasionally with Remnick's prodding. "This is the most ideologically driven administration in my memory, so obstinate in resisting facts, dissenting opinions ... [They entered the White House] with a set of preconcieved notions." Obama said. "I think this administration has done great damage to this country."

"I wouldn't fit in with this administration [because I think] actually being informed is a good basis for policy," Obama said to laughter. "OK, that's a low-blow."

Obama was particularly critical of the war in Iraq. "We've used up so much political capital [in Iraq]," adding that it is "going to take the current military the same amount of time it took the military to recover from Vietnam."

After some lighthearted grilling, Obama said Remnick "sounds nicer in his columns, but turns out to be somewhat of a prickly guy."

Remnick, who at this point could be considered the President of the United States of Magazines, forced Obama to address the topic of religion. "It's not 'faith' if you are absolutely certain," Obama said, noting that he didn't believe his lack of "faith" would hurt him a national election. "Evolution is more grounded in my experience than angels."

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Part lecture, part sales pitch, Barnes & Noble CEO Stephen Riggio addressed the American Magazine Conference today, admitting that while e-Books are finally "here to stay," the experience of reading a "real" book is going nowhere.

"If a book was invented today, it would be considered the perfect technology," Riggio said. "It's easy to use, doesn't require batteries and lasts a lifetime."

The next most-bought item by people who buy bestsellers is a magazine, Riggio said, adding that customers, on average, spend over an hour at Barnes and Noble. "That's powerful — magazines need to do a better job" of capturing these idling consumers.

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

FishbowlNY's AMC 2006 Coverage:

Business Week's star media reporter and husband of our CEO was kidding, he said. But Fine's fellow members of a panel at the American Magazine Conference in Phoenix entitled "The Power of Magazine Journalism" were deadly serious — worried even — that blogs and other members of the daily media have infiltrated their ranks to the point where scoops no longer hold for monthly — even weekly — magazines.

James Bennet, editor of the Atlantic, said its recent profile of Hillary Clinton — a "hard interview" — took more than a year to report, during which the New York Times reported a juicy piece of the story — John McCain and Hillary doing shots, he said — well before the Atlantic's publication, forcing the magazine to debate if and how to credit the Times. "We knew about it months before," Bennet said.

Still, said Marie Brenner, a writer-at-large at Vanity Fair, only magazine can "chip away" at a story. "Is it the right thing to do to be worrying about blogs?"

Luck, or lack of, plays a role, of course. Bennet said its June Abu Musab Al-Zarqari cover story [above] went online a few hours before news of his death broke, which led to a mild bit of ridicule of its later publication in print, including some on this blog, but what Bennet said amounted to the most complete obituary on the former Al-Qaeda leader.

FishbowlNY will be blogging live this week from the American Magazine Conference — the annual pow-wow of high-powered magazine executives — at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Check back often for our extended coverage.

FishbowlNY's AMC 2006 Coverage: