Jane Ellen Amsterdam is a former American magazine and newspaper editor. After successive magazine editorships during the 1970s, she joined The Washington Post as section editor. She later became founding editor of Manhattan, inc. magazine, and was widely credited with making it into a dynamic, National Magazine Award-winning magazine. She later joined the New York Post, becoming the first female editor of a major New York City newspaper. At the New York Post, she worked to increase the paper's credibility and journalism standards. By the time she left the Post in 1989, she was one of only six women in the country editing a newspaper with a circulation of over 100,000.
Early life and career
Jane Amsterdam was born June 15, 1951, in Philadelphia; the third of four children. Her mother, Fay, was a housewife and her father, Morton, a dentist and university professor. She was raised in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, and worked for her high school newspaper. She attended Cedar Crest College, during which she interned at Philadelphia magazine. After graduating in 1973, she joined Connecticut Magazine where she worked until 1976, successively as assistant editor, associate editor, and executive editor. In 1976 she became the founding managing editor of New Jersey Monthly, which she left in early 1978 to become editor of New Times magazine. which folded by the end of the year. In 1979 she edited The American Lawyer for six months, then spent seven weeks as executive editor of New York magazine. Later that year she was hired by The Washington Post as Style section editor, where she worked until 1983. At the Post, she collaborated with reporters Bob Woodward and Patrick Tyler on an article regarding allegations of improper stock practices by CIA deputy director Max C. Hugel., who resigned the day after the article broke. Shortly afterward, Amsterdam was made deputy editor of an investigative unit under Woodward.
''Manhattan, inc.''
In 1983, Amsterdam was hired by D. Herbert Lipson to begin assembling his new magazine, Manhattan, inc. The first issue debuted in September 1984, and after only four issues it won the 1985National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Under Amsterdam's editorship the magazine was also a National Magazine Award finalist for the same category in 1986 and 1987, and for the Single-Topic Issue category in 1988. Amsterdam was widely credited for the magazines's success. A colleague at Manhattan, inc. recalled: "one of her great gifts is that she packages stories so that people love to read them." She also had a reputation for being hard to work with, going through two executive editors before the third issue. In March 1987, Amsterdam abruptly resigned in a dispute over editorial control, accusing Lipson of wanting to favor advertisers. Afterwards, the Wall Street Journal approached her to develop a new business magazine, but the proposal was dropped after the October 1987 stock market crash. Fortune editor John Huey lists Amsterdam as a formative influence. Journalist Ron Rosenbaum dedicated his 1987 book Manhattan Passions to Amsterdam.
''New York Post'' and beyond
In January 1988, Amsterdam joined book publishing company Alfred A. Knopf as senior editor. In May of that year she was hired by the New York Post as editor, replacing Frank Devine. Amsterdam was given full control over all sections except the editorial division. Within six months the paper, famous for tabloid journalism and headlines such as "Headless Body in Topless Bar" had toned down the sensationalism and increased investigative reporting. She also oversaw the debut of the Posts new Sunday edition, a feature intended to compete against rival New York tabloids the Daily News and Newsday, and worked on the section's book review and travel supplements. Within a year after her hiring, Amsterdam was forced out by Post publisher Peter Kalikow, who reportedly complained that the more credible form of journalism was not helping sell more papers. After departing the Post, Amsterdam turned down a job offer from the Los Angeles Times and dropped plans for a proposed magazine about competition between people. Amsterdam was a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and served as a judge for the National Magazine Awards in 1988 and 1989, and the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 and 1990. Her alma mater awarded her an honorary degree in 1989. In 1993 she became a senior producer on the ABC News program Day One before retiring from the media industry. That same year, she took up the sport of competitive carriage driving. From 1985 to 2000 she was married to writer Jonathan Z. Larsen, former editor-in-chief of The Village Voice, with whom she adopted a son, Edward Roy, in 1990.
