Lucy Danziger

Lucy Danziger is the former[1] American editor-in-chief of Self magazine[2] and currently the Editorial Director of The Beet, a guide to plant-based healthy living. Danziger served as an editor-in-chief of Condé Nast Publications' Self from 2001 until 2014. She also launched Hinted, a social shopping wish list platform.[3]

Background

After graduating from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in 1978[2] and Harvard in 1982,[2] Danziger worked as an associate editor at New York magazine. Later, she worked at the New York-based weekly 7 Days as the founding managing editor. She also served as the founding editor of Women's Sports & Fitness from 1997 to 2000 and as an editor at The New York Times before becoming editor-in-chief at Self. Danziger has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Outside, Condé Nast Traveler, Skiing, Allure, Time and USA Today. Danziger has appeared on several television shows, including Today,[4] The View and Good Morning America.[4]

She launched Hinted as a tool to save to wish lists what consumers want as they browse and shop, including experiences and wellbeing purchases. The platform launched an iOS app in late 2017 and surpassed over 300,000 users in 2018.

Image retouching

Danziger featured stars on the covers of SELF and grew total circulation of self.com and the print magazine to 12 million monthly uniques. In 2009 she approved the retouched photograph of singer Kelly Clarkson's cover image for the September issue of Self, slimming down Clarkson's figure considerably. Battling a public backlash, Danziger asserted in her blog that it is common practice for publications to retouch photos of cover images. She defended her position, saying "This is a collaboration. It's not a news photograph . . . Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best. Did we publish an act of fiction? No. Not unless you think all photos are that. But in the sense that Kelly is the picture of confidence, and she truly is, then I think this photo is the truest we have ever put on the newsstand." Inside the issue was a selfie photo that Clarkson took and supplied to the magazine, so Danziger did not attempt to change the singer's personal appearance, and Clarkson herself said that her record covers are also retouched.[5]


Tutu controversy and firing

The April 2014 edition of Self contained a page called the "BS Meter" that called out false claims. On it, the magazine mocked one maker of tutus who claimed tutus made you run faster and the editors illustrated the item with a picture of San Diego runner Monika Allen. The magazine had contacted Allen to ask for permission to use the photo but not the context. Allen, a cancer survivor who marketed her tutus for charity, saw the context and contacted her local NBC affiliate and the story sparked backlash against Self and Danziger personally. Danziger issued an apology and interviewed Allen for her blog, complimenting her strength and perseverance and pointed out that the magazine was the co-founder of the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness and had advocated for personal health and cancer screenings, winning awards to cancer coverage including anti-tanning bed articles, but it did little to satisfy critics. Shortly after the incident Condé Nast fired Danziger and replaced her with Cosmopolitan executive editor Joyce Chang effective May 1, 2014. Two years later after Chang oversaw the dwindling newsstand sales the print publication ceased to exist. Danziger stated that this brought her no joy since the magazine had been a labor of love and a generation had grown up looking to it for personal health news, inspiration, and tips on how to live your healthiest and happiest life.[6]

References
  1. Keith J. Kelly (April 3, 2014). "Condé Nast ousts editor Lucy Danziger in Self shakeup". New York Post. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  2. JEREMY W. PETERS (October 17, 2010). "Redesigned, Self Adjusts Its Formula". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  3. Feitelberg, Rosemary (January 28, 2016). "Former Self Editor Lucy Danziger Is All About Digital With New Site Hintd". WWD. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  4. "Self Editor Continues to Make a Poor Case for Slimming Kelly Clarkson". The Cut. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Christina London (April 4, 2014). "SELF Magazine Gets New Editor After Tutu-Bashing Backlash". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
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