Hatchet Job

Why is a publication called "Women's Wear Daily" covering the change in editors at a business news magazine? I don't know either but here is their take:

UN-FORTUNE-ATE: Halloween brought scares of a different kind to the halls of Fortune when staffers learned at a noon meeting that Time Inc. editor in chief John Huey had promoted Andy Serwer to the magazine's managing editor. Serwer replaces Eric Pooley, who was saved from eviction from the Time Inc. offices when he was given an unspecified corporate job working on "investigative projects."

While many regard Serwer as a "good guy" and a "great television brand," many wondered whether he'd have the editorial clout to helm the biweekly business title. An editor at large at Fortune since 1998, Serwer has spent most of his tenure as a columnist, penning the "Street Life" column and longer features on business personalities such as Dell Computers founder Michael Dell. Serwer is also the daily business anchor of CNN's American Morning news show, and has been a fixture on the cable network for more than five years.

But Serwer, who said Huey approached him "a few days ago" for the position, lacks editing experience, save for a stint editing front-of-book pieces for Fortune a decade ago when Huey was its managing editor, nor has he managed a staff of any size. Moreover, his columns and features for the title were considered fluffy by many of his peers (one said his column read like it resulted from making one phone call) and sources close to the magazine heard Huey gripe about Serwer's inability to write big middle-of-the-book features in his early years. "He's everywhere and has done a great job with the brand of Andy Serwer," sniped one business journalist, who described Serwer's columns as "bad jokes behind Wall Street and basketball."

But Serwer's multimedia experience and his brand power are what propelled Huey to give him the job. "I am confident that he will bring his knowledge of both the story and the multimedia landscape to the helm of Fortune in exciting ways that will work to its great advantage in the future," said Huey in a statement. Moreover, Serwer believes his "people skills" will make up for his lack of editing experience.

"I know about working well with people. I know how collaboration works. I've got a great bunch of people around me and they'll help me fill a bunch of holes," said Serwer (though some of those great people are the same ones sources said were passed over for the job, such as editor at large Peter Elkind). And despite the knocks, Fortune staffers are psyched for the fun-loving Serwer's spirit. "What we plan to do is reenergize this place" Serwer added. "We've got some terrific talent coming here dying to do really cool stuff. It's a matter of kicking ass and having fun."