The mastheads that ousted Time Inc. CEO Jack Griffin ordered all the company's magazines to run in every issue are starting to disappear.
In the scheme of things, the masthead requirement was a minor example of the various changes Griffin implemented in his six-month tenure, and the order only affected the weeklies, which didn’t regularly run mastheads.
But in the wake of Griffin’s firing, the masthead decision was often cited as a factor in the culture clash that preceded his ouster. Traditionally, the decision to run a masthead has been left up to the individual brands. Griffin also ordered that all the mastheads carry his name on the same line as Editor in Chief John Huey's, contrary to past practice where mastheads often varied by title.
Now that that decision apparently is up to the titles themselves again, Time Inc.’s three biggest weeklies—Time, People and Sports Illustrated—dropped the masthead from their current issue.
“Editors and publishers of each title will decide when and where to run their own mastheads, based on...who produces the magazine, book makeup reasons or commercial reasons,” a Time magazine rep told Adweek.
