James Michaels
Encyclopedia
James W. Michaels was an American
journalist
and magazine editor
. Michaels served as the longtime editor of Forbes Magazine from 1961 until his retirement in 1999.
, on June 17, 1921. He attended the Culver Military Academy in Indiana and graduated from Harvard University
with a bachelor's degree in economics
in 1942. Michaels joined the U.S. military during World War II
. He applied to the American Field Service in April 1943 and was sent to Bombay
India to drive an ambulance
for the British Army
as part of AFS India Burma Unit 1. James was the nephew of the comedy writer Al Boasberg
.
. Mr. Michaels spent over four decades with Forbes magazine, after joining as a reporter in 1954 and rising to managing editor
in 1957 where he served until 1961 when he became editor.
Mr. Michaels retired from Forbes Magazine in 1999 and was succeeded as editor by William Baldwin. He left the magazine to help expand the Forbes Inc
parent company
into new mediums including television
, books and new media
. During his time as with Forbes, the magazine's circulation grew from 130,000 to 785,000, demonstrating how much readers enjoyed the magazine.
of Fortune Magazine, James Michaels, “was an absolutely brilliant editor who transformed business magazine journalism.” Steve Forbes
described James Michaels as a tough editor who wanted articles short, dramatic, and opinionated. According to the New York Times, when Michaels took over as editor, "American journalism remained a polite, dry affair, and corporate spin was reported without much skepticism. Ahead of his time, he made Forbes opinionated, interpretive and often indecorous, a magazine staunchly pro-business (and, its critics said, pro-wealthy) but did not hesitate to skewer companies and executives it saw as failures." According to Forbes, "he despised ‘bad actors’ who were cheating investors, customers, employees.”
According to the New York Times many of his former writers and editors remember Mr. Michaels as much for his brutal assessments of their work as for his incisive teaching. While always a gentlemen and available to talk, he could not stand verbose writing and would ruthlessly cut words and forced writers to state their view. A staunch contrarian, he did not let public opinion dictate the magazines views.
Michaels focused on the needs of his readers, rather than pleasing corporate executives or the mainstream media. Allan Sloan
wrote, “Unlike many of his competitors, Michaels didn't particularly lionize corporate chieftains. His focus was on representing small investors' interests.” Mr. Michaels wrote, “MY THESIS is this: If newspapers hope to survive they would do well to be less concerned with a liberal social agenda and more with the lives, hopes, and fears of their potential readers.”
Michaels was a hater of weasel words. William Baldwin (current Forbes editor) wrote “Jim had a novel idea. Why not speak to the reader as if you were speaking to a friend on a street corner? Brevity helps. Judgments help. If the chairman of the company is a nincompoop, say so -- if there's evidence to prove it."
As editor, Michaels edited 1,000 issues and he worked on almost every story. He wanted articles to be shorter, more direct, and with a clear conclusion to ensure they were fit for readers. He also wanted stories in Forbes to be original. If a story had been covered in another publication, he didn't want it in the magazine. To quote him, "Our readers look to us for groundbreaking, helpful stuff. Who needs us if we're doing what everyone else is doing?"
anthologies of model reporting on deadline
.
Steve Forbes credits Mr. Michaels with Forbes success. Mr. Forbes wrote, "When Jim joined FORBES in 1954, this magazine was, to put it charitably, second-tier. Moreover, business journalism itself was a backwater, a place where publications dumped their drunks and burned-out sportswriters. Today business, finance and economics are front-page stuff." "Jim made FORBES not only the most influential magazine in the business field but also one of the world's premier publications. Indeed, with no exaggeration, Jim Michaels was the foremost editor of our era. He virtually created modern business journalism."
In the 1950s Mr. Michaels foresaw the growth of the then nascent mutual fund industry. Michaels was integral in the development of Forbes' grading system of the long-term performance of funds.
He helped create the Forbes 400
ranking of America’s richest people, first published in 1982.
, Allan Sloan
, Richard Behar
, David Churbuck
, Gretchen Morgenson
, Kenneth Fisher
, Peter Brimelow
, and Ed Finn
.
(1972), Editor of the Year by Ad Week (1983), and Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award (1994). The TJFR Group honored Michaels by naming him one of the Top Ten Business News Luminaries of the Century.
on October 2, 2007 in Manhattan
. Michaels was a resident of Manhattan and Rhinebeck, New York, at the time of his death. Michaels was survived by his wife, Jean Briggs, whom he married June 29, 1985. Jean Briggs spent time as a senior editor and manager of the reporter/resesarcher department at Forbes. He was also survived by his brother (Albert), sister (Harriet), three children from a previous marriage, and six granddaughters.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and magazine editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
. Michaels served as the longtime editor of Forbes Magazine from 1961 until his retirement in 1999.
Early life
James Michaels was born in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, on June 17, 1921. He attended the Culver Military Academy in Indiana and graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with a bachelor's degree in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
in 1942. Michaels joined the U.S. military during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He applied to the American Field Service in April 1943 and was sent to Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
India to drive an ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
for the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
as part of AFS India Burma Unit 1. James was the nephew of the comedy writer Al Boasberg
Al Boasberg
Al Boasberg was a American comedy writer in vaudeville, radio, and film, as well as being a film director....
.
Career
James Michaels stayed with the military until September 1944 when he was released to the Office of War Information. After the war, Mr. Michaels remained in India and worked for the United Press wire service's New Delhi office, giving Mr. Michaels the biggest story of his life; in 1948 he broke the story of the assassination of Mahatma GandhiMahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
. Mr. Michaels spent over four decades with Forbes magazine, after joining as a reporter in 1954 and rising to managing editor
Managing editor
A managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
in 1957 where he served until 1961 when he became editor.
Mr. Michaels retired from Forbes Magazine in 1999 and was succeeded as editor by William Baldwin. He left the magazine to help expand the Forbes Inc
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
parent company
Parent company
A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...
into new mediums including television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, books and new media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
. During his time as with Forbes, the magazine's circulation grew from 130,000 to 785,000, demonstrating how much readers enjoyed the magazine.
Editorial Style
According to Allan SloanAllan Sloan
Allan Sloan is an American journalist who is currently senior editor at large at Fortune magazine.Sloan was born in Brooklyn, New York and is a 1966 graduate of Brooklyn College and a 1967 graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism...
of Fortune Magazine, James Michaels, “was an absolutely brilliant editor who transformed business magazine journalism.” Steve Forbes
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes, Jr. is an American editor, publisher, and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996...
described James Michaels as a tough editor who wanted articles short, dramatic, and opinionated. According to the New York Times, when Michaels took over as editor, "American journalism remained a polite, dry affair, and corporate spin was reported without much skepticism. Ahead of his time, he made Forbes opinionated, interpretive and often indecorous, a magazine staunchly pro-business (and, its critics said, pro-wealthy) but did not hesitate to skewer companies and executives it saw as failures." According to Forbes, "he despised ‘bad actors’ who were cheating investors, customers, employees.”
According to the New York Times many of his former writers and editors remember Mr. Michaels as much for his brutal assessments of their work as for his incisive teaching. While always a gentlemen and available to talk, he could not stand verbose writing and would ruthlessly cut words and forced writers to state their view. A staunch contrarian, he did not let public opinion dictate the magazines views.
Michaels focused on the needs of his readers, rather than pleasing corporate executives or the mainstream media. Allan Sloan
Allan Sloan
Allan Sloan is an American journalist who is currently senior editor at large at Fortune magazine.Sloan was born in Brooklyn, New York and is a 1966 graduate of Brooklyn College and a 1967 graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism...
wrote, “Unlike many of his competitors, Michaels didn't particularly lionize corporate chieftains. His focus was on representing small investors' interests.” Mr. Michaels wrote, “MY THESIS is this: If newspapers hope to survive they would do well to be less concerned with a liberal social agenda and more with the lives, hopes, and fears of their potential readers.”
Michaels was a hater of weasel words. William Baldwin (current Forbes editor) wrote “Jim had a novel idea. Why not speak to the reader as if you were speaking to a friend on a street corner? Brevity helps. Judgments help. If the chairman of the company is a nincompoop, say so -- if there's evidence to prove it."
As editor, Michaels edited 1,000 issues and he worked on almost every story. He wanted articles to be shorter, more direct, and with a clear conclusion to ensure they were fit for readers. He also wanted stories in Forbes to be original. If a story had been covered in another publication, he didn't want it in the magazine. To quote him, "Our readers look to us for groundbreaking, helpful stuff. Who needs us if we're doing what everyone else is doing?"
Contributions
Mr. Michaels’ writing on Gandhi's death is included in the anthology "A Treasury of Great Reporting". Michaels' dispatches from India are still taught in journalismJournalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
anthologies of model reporting on deadline
Time limit
A time limit or deadline is a narrow field of time, or particular point in time, by which an objective or task must be accomplished.In project management, deadlines are most often associated with milestone goals....
.
Steve Forbes credits Mr. Michaels with Forbes success. Mr. Forbes wrote, "When Jim joined FORBES in 1954, this magazine was, to put it charitably, second-tier. Moreover, business journalism itself was a backwater, a place where publications dumped their drunks and burned-out sportswriters. Today business, finance and economics are front-page stuff." "Jim made FORBES not only the most influential magazine in the business field but also one of the world's premier publications. Indeed, with no exaggeration, Jim Michaels was the foremost editor of our era. He virtually created modern business journalism."
In the 1950s Mr. Michaels foresaw the growth of the then nascent mutual fund industry. Michaels was integral in the development of Forbes' grading system of the long-term performance of funds.
He helped create the Forbes 400
Forbes 400
The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by Forbes Magazine magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is published annually in September, and 2010 marks the 29th issue. The 400 was started by Malcom Forbes in 1982 and treats those in the list like...
ranking of America’s richest people, first published in 1982.
Mentorship and Influence
Mr. Michaels has been cited as mentoring and influencing a long and influential group of writers, journalists, and editors including (but not necessarily limited to): Norman PearlstineNorman Pearlstine
Norman Pearlstine joined Bloomberg L.P. in June 2008 as chief content officer, a newly-created position. In this role Pearlstine is charged with seeking growth opportunities for Bloomberg’s television, radio, magazine, and online products and to make the most of the company’s news operations.Prior...
, Allan Sloan
Allan Sloan
Allan Sloan is an American journalist who is currently senior editor at large at Fortune magazine.Sloan was born in Brooklyn, New York and is a 1966 graduate of Brooklyn College and a 1967 graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism...
, Richard Behar
Richard Behar
Richard Behar is an award-winning American investigative journalist who has written on the staffs of leading magazines including Forbes, Time and Fortune over a 22-year period from 1982-2004. His work has also appeared on CNN and PBS...
, David Churbuck
David Churbuck
-References:...
, Gretchen Morgenson
Gretchen Morgenson
Gretchen C. Morgenson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who writes the Market Watch column for the Sunday "Money & Business" section of the New York Times.-Life:...
, Kenneth Fisher
Kenneth Fisher
Kenneth Lawrence Fisher is a widely published American investment analyst, and the founder, chairman, and CEO of Fisher Investments, a money management firm headquartered in Woodside, California...
, Peter Brimelow
Peter Brimelow
Peter Brimelow is a British American financial journalist, author, and founder of VDARE. Brimelow has been the editor of many publications, including Forbes, the Financial Post, and National Review...
, and Ed Finn
Ed Finn
Edward Finn, Jr. is a Canadian trade unionist and journalist, editor, author and former Newfoundland politician. He was the leader of the Newfoundland Democratic Party and the first leader of the Newfoundland New Democratic Party....
.
Awards
Michaels was honored with many awards, including the Loeb AwardGerald Loeb Award
The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was established in 1957 by Gerald Loeb, a founding partner of...
(1972), Editor of the Year by Ad Week (1983), and Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award (1994). The TJFR Group honored Michaels by naming him one of the Top Ten Business News Luminaries of the Century.
Death
James Michaels died at age 86 of pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
on October 2, 2007 in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Michaels was a resident of Manhattan and Rhinebeck, New York, at the time of his death. Michaels was survived by his wife, Jean Briggs, whom he married June 29, 1985. Jean Briggs spent time as a senior editor and manager of the reporter/resesarcher department at Forbes. He was also survived by his brother (Albert), sister (Harriet), three children from a previous marriage, and six granddaughters.