From "On the media":
Q: There's a quote in your piece from the editor of Cosmopolitan, Kate White, and she says that the absence of non-white women on the cover of Cosmo reflects the celebrities that Hollywood produces, not the magazine's editorial preferences. Are you buying that?

DAVID CARR: No, I'm not buying it, because Cosmopolitan almost half the time uses models -- not famous people - and when they do put a model on the cover, they don't generally choose someone who is not white with very large hair and a real big smile. And magazines are not a hugely risky business. They don't take a lot of chances. Cosmo's version of taking a big risk is choosing a brunette instead of a blonde Read on

From The NY Daily News:
Early word on In Touch Weekly is that the new celebrity magazine soared to a newsstand sale of around 460,000 copies after just a month of publication.
In Touch, which looks a lot like Us Weekly but has a softer touch in reporting on the stars, is said to have grown so quickly that it hit 460,000 with the issue fronted by "Diana's Secret Love Story."

That total would exceed the 406,000 a week - a gain of 30% - that a reinvigorated Us Weekly averaged in the first six months this year under new editor in chief Bonnie Fuller. It's expected to go higher in the second half.

New Jersey-based Bauer Publishing, a German-owned company whose Woman's World and First for Women sell a total of nearly 3 million copies on newsstands, has the deep pockets to keep In Touch in wide distribution and make it work.

After selling the first issue for $1, Bauer now charges $1.99 - still $1.30 less than People and Us Weekly, which hiked its newsstand price 30 cents, to $3.29, early this month.

Asked about the sales figures obtained by the Daily News, Bauer spokeswoman Suzanne Lyons said the company had no comment until its own numbers are ready for release.