Us Weekly - Us Weekly in The News

Us Weekly in The News

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In a July 2006 Variety article, Janice Min, Us Weekly editor-in-chief, cited People for the increase in cost to publishers of celebrity photos:

They are among the biggest spenders of celebrity photos in the industry. ... One of the first things they ever did, that led to the jacking up of photo prices, was to pay $75,000 to buy pictures of Jennifer Lopez reading Us magazine, so Us Weekly couldn't buy them. That was the watershed moment that kicked off high photo prices in my mind. I had never seen anything like it. But they saw a competitor come along, and responded. It was a business move, and probably a smart one.

In a June 2007 New York Magazine article, Tina Brown was asked, "Do you actually read the tabloids?"

Of course. I read everything. I adore Us Weekly. I think it's a genius magazine. I'm a big fan of magazines that fulfill the goal of what they're trying to be.

From a May 2007 New York Post article profiling New York's 50 Most Powerful Women,

Janice Min, 37, editor, Us magazine. With her mag's profits placed as high as $90 million a year and readership up 191 percent in the last five years, Janice is not just like us. Nonetheless, the success of Us is attributed partly to the mother of two's reputation as perky and well liked – as well as its addictive features like the new "Faux Biz", which makes fun of off-base gossip.

The magazine was criticized for allegedly biased coverage of the 2008 Republican National Convention. The September 5, 2008, issue featured Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on the cover with the headline "Babies, Lies & Scandal", while the June 19, 2008, issue featured U.S. Senator from Illinois Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama with the headline "Why Barack Loves Her". Senior Editor Bradley Jacobs claimed that the "lies" on the cover referred to unspecified "liberal bloggers" who had speculated on the parentage of Governor Palin's child, not to the governor herself. However, nothing on the cover indicated "liberal bloggers" were the alleged liars. It was reported that the magazine had lost over 10,000 subscribers. Since then Michelle Malkin's blog reported that Us Weekly sent e-mails to each of those subscribers, apologizing for the cover, and promised to send them five free copies of the magazine.

In 2009, Us Weekly partnered with to become the first media company to sell sponsorships on their Facebook Page.