Quote, unquote: Prudent risks and editrix rivalry

While Hearst will have an easier time selling ads for two powerhouse fashion magazines both at home and abroad, can you imagine the spats between Glenda Bailey and Roberta Myers in the atrium of Hearst tower when they both want the same dress for an issue of the magazine? We’re looking forward to Elle (and it’s stellar international editions) being really strong businesses like they should be, but it seems to us that the snippy in-house editrix wars are a part of the deal neither business has considered.

-- Fashion blog Styleite, speculating on what may happen if Hearst Corporation succeeds in buying the properties of French company Lagardere and its Hachette Filippachi magazine division, which publishes Woman's Day, Car and Driver and Harper's Bazaar. Harper's Bazaar and Elle are acknowledged toe-to-toe rivals.

The new president of Hearst, David Carey, sent a letter to all staff , apparently trying to rally his troops as they began to realize that Hearst would be taking in 102 magazine editions and 50 web sites if the deal goes through by month's end. And while he wasn't giving anything away, he called on all employees to "dial up your entreprenurial thinking" and said the company was intent on taking "prudent risks and smart bets".

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