So Far, It's Just Talk

In the media world, there was one event this summer that overshadowed the rest--the launch of Talk magazine. Now Talk has followed up the first effort with a second issue as it looks to secure a future on the racks at Barnes and Nobles around the country, not just in the fickle Beltway buzz.

I picked up the second issue of Talk the other day and was a little surprised that I had not heard any whispers about its release. The first issue, with Hillary Clinton making excuses for Bill's unfaithfulness and George W. quoted mocking a death-row inmate and using a potty mouth, attracted so much media attention before it was even available that Talk had almost guaranteed a successful launch. Editor Tina Brown, the former New Yorker editor, became the talk of the town (pun intended) as she reveled in the glory of having every soul in Washington, New York and Los Angeles giddy with anticipation over the first issue.

Everything was riding high for Brown and Co., and they didn't disappoint. The issue delivered exactly what had been hyped. The buzz level remained high after the release as news organizations used the published text to justify questions to the President and First Lady about the President's past indiscretions. And after reading the piece about George W., another George W., conservative columnist George Will, declared the Texas governor unfit for the presidency because of his disregard for civilized English. That's quite an impression for a magazine premiere to make.

So the people at Talk were able to give themselves a pat on the back, and boy did they do so. The launch party for Talk took place Aug. 2 in New York City near the Statue of Liberty, and it was probably larger than the party thrown there when France gave Lady Liberty to the United States.

How do I know? Well, it's actually because of Talk's major flaw--it's favorite subject to talk about is, well, itself. The party is featured in an eight-page spread toward the front of the second issue. (You get to it after wading through roughly 40 pages of advertisements.) The running commentary alongside the photos talks about how much the people in the pictures are enjoying themselves. One person who really looks to be enjoying himself is Henry Kissinger. He's talking with Kate Moss. Another great meeting of the minds, isn't it?

If Talk wants to thrive, it's going to have to drop such pretension. Sure, a magazine can cover celebrities, but the people who run it just can't be obsessed with becoming celebrities themselves. Unfortunately for Talk's staff, Brown may have already ruined that for them by grabbing for the spotlight rather than letting the magazine naturally shine.

And the spotlight obsession isn't the only problem with Talk. For starters, Talk needs a redesign. The black cover is awful. It looks sinister and sleazy, which may attract a certain audience, but not the intellectual yet celebrity-obsessed audience Talk wants. The inside design is just as bad. Maybe their "European visual sensibility," as Brown calls it in the first issue, just doesn't translate across the pond. It looks like a poor man's Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone is innovative in its design with its varying type faces and sometimes crowded text; Talk is just an imitator with its jumbled look and muddled theme.

Another problem with the second issue is that the newsstand price increased from $2.95 for the first issue to $3.50 for the second while dropping 30 pages. The 30 pages were probably filled with advertising, but the second issue still has more advertisements than necessary, so I guess the reader just can't win.

And while the first issue was a blockbuster, the second is pretty much a standard sequel. The October cover story is about Liz Taylor. Not quite as thrilling as the September Hillary story. And George Pataki doesn't grab the reader's attention as much as George W. (What is this, the Governor of the Month feature?) And so the content will never be the same as the initial issue. Whatever buzz is left will die down very soon.

But for all of the problems, Talk is not completely irrelevant. The writing is good and the magazine does get big-name contributors who can get big-name celebrities to agree to interviews. And if the editors can follow up with periodic scoops, there will be casual readers who will make a point of buying it that month.

Talk also has a unique backer. It is co-owned by Miramax, the film studio. This makes for great cross-promotion opportunities. Already, some of Miramax's new home videos feature advertisements for Talk with Brown talking about--what else?--her new magazine! I'm sure Miramax movies will soon find a promoter in Talk, either in advertisements or in exclusive stories. Pretty soon, we'll probably even see a movie with first-issue cover girl and Miramax Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow as Tina Brown in "Talk: The Tina Brown Story." And I don't think it's a coincidence that the other Talk sponsor is Hearst Communications, the company whose patron saint, publisher William Randolph Hearst, inspired Citizen Kane, the famous movie about a self-centered media mogul.

But whether or not that happens, and whether we like it or not, Talk will be around for a while. One thing self-publicity does for itself is get the word out. And, for a magazine, self-generated talk is better than no talk at all.

William P. Bohlen '01, a Crimson executive, is a government concentrator in Pforzheimer House.