Magazine would be Swift move for new governor
by Beth Teitell

Tuesday, April 10, 2001

Jane, I know you've been busy, but have you had a chance to curl up with Rosie's new magazine?

I'm bringing it up not because I think you'd particularly enjoy the features on Rosie's craft-room hideaway or the one about delicious dinners for under $12 (cooking better be hubby's job), but because while Rosie doesn't have her own state like you do, she does score a bit higher in the old popularity department. I thought maybe a magazine of your own might help.

Look what it did for Martha. OK, never mind. Think ``O,'' Oprah's magazine. April weighs in at 232 pages, and Oprah has never looked happier.

So Jane, before you make some excuse, like ``Hello! I'm taking over friggin' Massachusetts, the 13th largest state in the country, and I'm pregnant with twins, and I have a 2 -year-old at home and for some reason I insist on living in the Western part of the state, and I'm only 36, and I've locked myself into this crazy `working maternity leave' thing and no one even likes me,'' hear me out.

Jane, you're riding high (for the moment, at least). No detail of your life is too small to be of interest (or at least printed). Reporters are interviewing people from your hometown about you. That only happens when you've committed a crime, haven't had sexual relations with That President, or, as in your case, are about to become very powerful.

As the French say, eef not now, when?

The only question is a name. Sadly, ``Jane'' is taken. In Massachusetts you could probably seize it by eminent domain, but while it's a fun read, I'm not sure articles such as ``It happened to me: We aired our sex life online,'' ``Blind date: Megan strands Wes in L.A.'' or ``The Lipstick Hall of Fame'' send the power message you're after.

How about Jane's Defence Weekly, the British magazine focusing on all matters defense, aerospace and transportation? Not a lip liner or dating horror story in sight!

As you may know, Jane's also issues other publications, and they'd be perfect for you and the Bay State. There's Jane's All the World's Aircraft (last time I checked that counted your beloved helicopters) and Jane's Fighting Ships. As anyone who's tried to get a last-minute weekend car reservation for ferries to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket knows, if that's not fighting, what is?

But back to your magazine. I can see the call-outs on the May cover now:

Statehouse Purges: locating enemy targets within.

Putting your best foot forward when heads are rolling.

Backstabbing: Turn on or turn off?

Returning Fire: Giving as good as you get.

Bloodthirsty and LUVVING It!!

Jane, I'm not saying publishing a magazine will be easy. Even mighty Tina Brown is struggling. But it's worth a shot. And it offers protection if things go sour at the statehouse. Finally, you'll control some of the ink.