Specter of Philip Seymour Hoffman Looms Over National Enquirer NYC Relocation
On Tuesday, Keith J. Kelly broke the news that the National Enquirer was relocating its editorial operations to New York City from Boca Raton. And that according to his sources, the decision to not include editor-in-chief Tony Frost in the migration was payback for a huge, recent mess:
Frost’s ouster comes months after an embarrassing February Enquirer story that falsely claimed the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman had a gay lover. Insiders claim the Hoffman story cost Frost his job, but the tabloid’s publisher, American Media Inc., denies there is a connection between the two.
Today, in a subsequent piece by New York Times staff reporter James Barron, the man taking over in Lower Manhattan for Frost – Dylan Howard – reiterates the company line:
Howard denied that the changes had to do with an Enquirer article published after the death of the actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in February…
“It’s not about that,” he said. “The Enquirer continues to shine at the newsstand. It’s our job to give the audience what they want when they want it, and we feel that by moving to New York, it’s an opportunity to lead the way in transforming our business.”
Regardless of who you believe, there’s no doubt that under the stewardship of Howard, the consolidation is going to solidify the ways Radar Online and the Enquirer collaborate. It also means that Howard, a 32-year-old Aussie, now boasts a triple-threat AMI job title: vice president of news, editorial director of Radar and EIC of the National Enquirer.
In South Florida, Frost will continue to oversee AMI publications The Globe and Examiner.
Previously on FishbowlNY:
Bogus National Enquirer Story Begets $45,000 Writing Prize
[Photo: Featureflash/Shutterstock.com]
