Has Graydon Carter lost his well-heeled mind?

Jossip has a “pretty well placed source” who says the Vanity Fair editor has hired armed guards at the magazine’s printer to protect the first photos of Suri Cruise, due to be published this fall.

Given the Brangelina baby photo scandal of yore, this actually strikes us a pretty sane move for a magazine editor in 2006.

Graydon Carter Hires Armed Guards to Protect His Suri Cruise Cover [Jossip]

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Announcement from Jack Kliger, President & CEO, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.

I am sorry to announce that following the October 2006 issue, the company will discontinue the publication of For Me magazine, a monthly women’s lifestyle magazine which was launched in Spring 2005. It is always a very difficult decision to close a magazine.

When we launched For Me a little over a year ago, we thought that there was a market for a young woman’s lifestyle magazine which was not focused on gossip. Because of the competitive environment at retail check out, the magazine has not received the visibility necessary to generate the level of sales that we need to support our business plan.

I want to recognize the outstanding work of Editor-in-Chief Ellen Breslau, her talented team and the many people at Hachette who produced this publication which was — from the beginning — highly-valued by its passionate and responsive community of readers. Thank you for your hard work.

Jack Kliger

It appears soon-to-be Village Voice editor David Blum will have a significantly leaner staff to work with when he starts September 12.

Gawker reports the following job cuts at the Voice: editorial staffers Darren Reidy, Ed Park, Jorge Morales, Elizabeth Zimmer and thought to be untouchable Robert Christgau and art department staffers Minh Uong, LD Beghtol and Tina Zimmer.

The Dean is Dead [Gawker]

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General Motors says its decision to stop advertising on Survivor was unrelated to the season’s controversial race-based format. Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS and Campbell Soup, who have also dropped off the Survivor island.

Via the New York Times:

“It is my understanding that we did not know what the new format was when the decision was made,” Ryndee Carney, a manager of advertising and marketing communications for General Motors, said in an interview yesterday.

Meanwhile, we have received a handful of e-mails from CBS staffers who are none-too-pleased with the Survivor stunt. One contained the subject line: “i’m so fucking proud to work here.”

G.M. Drops ‘Survivor’ But Says Racial Format Isn’t the Reason [NYT]

There’s plenty of obligatory buzz surrounding tonight’s return of the MTV Video Music Awards to New York. The lavishly-produced show always forces one to remember there was a time when MTV used to play actual music videos. And with the U.S. Open and tennis “just friends” Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova in Flushing, we’re hearing from a few sources that the paparazzi’s Rodapova wish may, in fact, be granted.

Note: Sharapova’s 2nd round match is slated to begin “not before 4:00PM,” which — based on her 59-minute beating of Michaella Krajicek last night — would give her just enough time to scurry over to Radio City Music Hall. And, by the looks of her Nike cocktail dress, she wouldn’t even have to change.

EARLIER: Rodapova Photo Would Be Big ‘Get,’ But Not As Big As Suri Cruise

In a fit of branding not unlike Maxim‘s various brick and mortar projects, Time Out New York is set to launch an Off Broadway lounge, the aptly-named Time Out New York Lounge, located in the New World Stages. The TONY Lounge “will be open daily to the public and offer happy-hour specials,” including its own awkwardly-named signature cocktail: the MarTONY.

The weekly nightlife guide is making a push to gets in brand in front of go-go-goers of late — TONY recently launched a broadband video channel.

EARLIER: Time Out New York Launches Broadband Video Channel

Former Virginia Governor and would-be Democratic presidential candidate Mark Warner, he of the scary New York Times Magazine cover, is scheduled to speak to the equally-scary-yet-fascinating alter-online universe known as Second Life this afternoon. The event is being sponsored by Forward Together, a political action committee of which Warner is an honorary chairman.

Will Second Life become a regular political campaign stop as important as Meet The Press? Could Warner become the first president with a Second Life account? The implications are as nerdy as they are endless.

GOVERNOR MARK WARNER GOES VIRTUAL IN “SECOND LIFE” [Forward Together]

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It appears Lil’ Kim ate well in prison.

Via today’s Times:

“They threw me this big party,” she said earlier this week at her rambling home in this affluent Bergen County town. “They made me this triple-layer cake out of popcorn and trail mix. They made a cake out of Oreo cookies. They made this high-heel stiletto shoe out of Jolly Ranchers,” she said referring to the candy. “It was crazy. They really showed me love.”

Ya don’t say?

Big House Didn’t Break Lil’ Kim, Rap Diva [NYT]

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