News Releases
DES MOINES (September 27, 2007) – Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) announced today that LuAnn Brandsen has been named Editor-in-Chief of Country Home magazine, effective October 8. Brandsen replaces Carol Sheehan who recently announced she is retiring.
Brandsen has spent her entire 18-year journalism career with Meredith, most recently as Editor of Renovation Style magazine. She has also served as Editor of Country Gardens magazine and Garden Editor of Country Home magazine.
A native of Pella (IA), Brandsen began her career in 1987 as a student intern in Meredith’s Special Interest Media (SIM) group. She worked on a number of SIM titles before eventually becoming Editor of Window & Wall Ideas.
Brandsen holds two master’s degrees from the University of Missouri – Columbia, one in photojournalism and one in magazine journalism. She also received a bachelor’s degree in English from Calvin College in Michigan. She currently lives in a 1860s farmhouse outside Ankeny (IA) with her husband and two daughters.
“We are delighted to have a talent like LuAnn ready to take over the reins from Carol,” said Meredith Publishing Group President Jack Griffin. “She has an outstanding editorial and academic background, and will create her own vision for Country Home that will resonate with readers and advertisers alike.”
About Country Home
For 25 years, Country Home magazine has redefined the vision of country. Country Home speaks to the desire for style with editorial features that blend formal and familiar, classic and casual, to inspire readers to explore their own personal tastes. The magazine presents fresh, actionable ideas that are relevant to all aspects of readers’ lifestyles, including home décor, food and entertaining, fashion and well-being, travel and shopping. Country Home has over 8 million readers, is published 10 times per year and has a rate base of 1.25 million. The magazine was nominated for a National Magazine Award in photography in both 2005 and 2007.
About Meredith Corporation
Meredith (www.meredith.com) is one of the nation’s leading media and marketing companies with businesses centering on magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing and interactive media. The Meredith Publishing Group features 25 subscription magazines and publishes approximately 180 special interest publications under approximately 80 titles. Meredith has more than 400 books in print. Meredith owns 13 television stations, including properties in top-25 markets Atlanta, Phoenix and Portland, OR. Additionally, Meredith has an extensive online presence that includes more than 40 Web sites and two broadband channels – Better.tv and Parents.tv.
Meredith Integrated Marketing has established marketing relationships with some of America’s leading companies. Meredith’s consumer database, which contains approximately 85 million names, is one of the largest domestic databases among media companies and enables magazine and television advertisers to conduct precise targeted-marketing campaigns. Meredith publishes five Spanish-language titles, making Meredith the leading publisher serving Hispanic women in the United States.
Contact:
Lisa Bagley
212-551-7189
lisa.bagley@meredith.com