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Although Amsterdam and Post Publisher Peter O. Price insist that the essential character of the paper will not change, it is already in transition. Under Press Lord Rupert Murdoch, the Post lost millions trying to win blue- collar readers away from the rival Daily News, while attracting a scant 10% of New York City's newspaper advertising dollars. After rescuing the paper from imminent death when Murdoch was forced to sell it last February, Kalikow brought in Price, who switched it from afternoon to morning publication and launched an expensive campaign to woo upscale commuters.
At the moment the Post remains awash in red ink, but Kalikow predicts it will break even within three years. He also expects circulation to rise from its current level of 555,000 to 700,000, still well behind the Daily News's 1.2 million. Amsterdam says the pressure on her is not to make the Post profitable but to make it better. Still, that may be difficult because of the attrition of recent years, including the loss of two of the paper's most talented headline writers.
Given the backgrounds of both Amsterdam and Price, a founder of the aggressively upscale Avenue magazine, many observers believe Amsterdam's appointment confirms suspicions that the Post will now be aiming its sights on the Chablis-and-Brie set. Amsterdam talks about improving business coverage, and there are reports that veteran magazine writers such as Dominick Dunne, Pete Hamill and Mimi Sheraton have been invited to write for the paper. -
Wary Post veterans remember when the Daily News targeted the same readership with a magazine-style Tonight edition in the early 1980s -- and almost went under. Still, after facing the paper's demise only a few months ago, the staff is inured to shifting fortunes. Typically, one wag has even come up with the perfect Post headline for the latest turnabout: AMSTERDAMERUNG.
CHART: NOT AVAILABLE
CREDIT: DIANA WALKER
CAPTION: MOVING UP
DESCRIPTION: Women who are publishers of newspapers.