Venerable McCall's changes direction with Rosie in charge

November 17, 2000 - Talk show host Rosie O'Donnell is the latest TV star to put her mark on a magazine. This spring, the first issue of Rosie's McCall's will hit the newsstands. What does this mean for writers?

O'Donnell, who will be the editorial director of the new magazine, called it a "merger" with McCall's on NBC's Today show in an interview with anchor Katie Couric. However, the official press release defines the working relationship between the publisher, Gruner + Jahr, and O'Donnell's production company, KidRo, as a joint venture. Financial terms were not disclosed.

O'Donnell said the magazine will definitely mirror her own convictions and ideas. "It will be less spiritual than Oprah's magazine, more pragmatic than Martha Stewart's, and with my annoying, Democratic political agenda somewhere in the middle," she said.

She said on the Today show that Rosie's McCall's will still be a women's service magazine but along with the usual topics there will be more about kids, more crafts. It's her hope to have one special article each month. "You know like the one they have in Vanity Fair and everybody talks about," she said on the show.

Susan Ungaro, publisher of Gruner + Jahr's Family Circle will work with O'Donnell, including a search for a new editor. The current editor, Sally Koslow, will stay through the March issue.