9223: Michael Wolff In The Doghouse…?

The New York Post revealed that Adweek Editorial Director Michael Wolff may be on the hot seat, as his bosses are pissed about everything from the publication’s poor advertising revenue to the Madison-Avenue-light content to Wolff’s allegedly awful management style. Hey, have the head honchos noticed the work of ace reporter Robert Klara? But seriously, if the top brassholes are unhappy, they have only themselves to blame. Wolff’s hiring was the equivalent of ad agencies bringing in ex-standup comedians as copywriters or foreign cabaret performers as executive music producers. Next time you need an editorial director for an advertising trade journal, consider recruiting someone with expertise in, say, advertising.

Staff Cries Wolff

Adweek exit seen

By Claire Atkinson and Keith J. Kelly

Adweek’s top editor, Michael Wolff, is on the hot seat, The Post has learned.

Senior executives at Prometheus Global Media, which owns the title, have been telling business associates that they are unhappy with Adweek under Wolff, sources said.

The unhappiness has sparked a discussion among Prometheus executives and Adweek brass about whether Wolff’s contract, scheduled to run through September, will be renewed, the sources said.

The unhappiness is related to Adweek’s anemic advertising revenues and the free-spending ways of Wolff, the title’s editorial director, sources added.

Equally troubling, insiders told The Post, was Wolff’s management style, which has moved more than one staffer to complain to human resources about brusque treatment. The insiders were told, according to sources, to sit tight because the situation would be resolved soon.

Another ad source noticed that Wolff has ceased identifying himself in interviews as editorial director at Adweek.

Separately, Prometheus bosses have been apologetic about some of the public stances taken by the outspoken Wolff in his columns on the media business.

They’re also red-faced over complaints that despite its title, Adweek isn’t giving Madison Avenue enough coverage. One ad industry source noted that the $3 billion General Motors ad review, broken by rival AdAge, didn’t appear on Adweek’s Web site for almost a day.

Wolff has been clear from the start that he wasn’t running a trade mag, however, and relaunched the title in April, spending thousands of dollars on glossy photo shoots.

The launch issue drew much notice for its misspelling on the cover of social media company Zynga, which was referred to as Zenga.

Prometheus’ Jimmy Finkelstein, asked in a series of text messages whether he planned to renew Wolff’s contract, did not respond.

Wolff, who is on vacation, did not respond for comment.

Wolff, a former Vanity Fair contributing editor, arrived last October with great fanfare and a mandate to put some life into a collection of tired trade magazines including Adweek, Brandweek and Mediaweek.

The titles were acquired from Nielsen Co. for an estimated $70 million by Finkelstein in December 2009.

Prometheus is funded by Finkelstein’s Pluribus Capital and Guggenheim Partners.

In an April 18 interview with Yahoo News on Wolff, Observer Editor Elizabeth Spiers said: “I guess they thought Michael would at least bring them some buzz, which he has in a way, but probably not the kind they were hoping for.”