Disney CEO and Vanity Fair editor discuss media


On Tuesday, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism hosted Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of Disney, and Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, in a discussion about the management of iconic media brands in the digital age and the future of magazines.

Carter is a former writer for both Time and Life magazines, the founder of Spy magazine, and has served as editor of Vanity Fair for 23 years. Iger, who was named “Tech Top Visionary” by Fortune magazine, is responsible for Disney Studios’ acquisition of Pixar Animation, Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm. Annenberg Director Willow Bay introduced the speakers, while Iger led the conversation with Carter.

“We both have a lot in common, aside from our love of Vanity Fair,” Iger said. “We have both been in I guess what one would consider the traditional media business for decades. And we were remarking that in that period of time we’ve seen a considerable change in the media landscape.”

The conversation started off with a discussion of magazines’ role in the 24-hour news cycle. Carter said that Vanity Fair does not focus on timeliness in most of their content.

“The one thing I’ve learned in this business is don’t jump on a story,” Carter said. “We are sort of halfway between the first onslaught on the story and a book. If we were to jump on something now, that story would probably be in the July or August issue.”

The process of letting a story develop allows Vanity Fair to create the long-form journalism for which it is famous. He said the stories that he publishes have four components: access, narrative or story, disclosure of new information and conflict. This legacy took many years to build, and Carter argues it might become dwarfed by other media outlets had it started today.

“I wouldn’t start [Vanity Fair] today because you would never have time to build a business,” Carter said. “I don’t think you could start a magazine of this scale today and ever hope to make a profit. Technology would eat it.”

Carter said he often plays the role of motivator to his staff during the process of creating a story.

“My job as an editor is to talk to a writer and a photographer and make them think this is the most important thing they will ever do,” Carter said. “Then I have to turn around three months later and make them think that’s the most important thing they’ll ever do.”

Iger observed that through the long writing process, Carter has the ability to work closely with everything that goes into one issue of Vanity Fair.

“Your fingerprints are all over this,” Iger said. “A lot of editors don’t really create anything; they just edit. But you create.”

Iger drew a connection between Carter’s work as an editor and his own experience at Disney.

“The reason why Pixar makes animated films that are so good is because the ideas all came from the head of the director,” Iger said. “Every Pixar film that’s been made, the story itself, has been created by the director.”

The discussion concluded with a question and answer session with the audience. One student asked what advice Iger and Carter would give to a recent graduate looking for a job.

“There is a lot of value in classroom experience and practical experience,” Iger said. “I benefitted a lot from showing an interest in learning and doing at the same time.”