AMI’s Chairman & CEO David Pecker Suppressed Women’s Stories
On December 12, David Pecker, chairman and CEO of American Media Inc. (AMI), admitted to paying “hush money” to a woman alleging to have had an affair with Donald Trump in an attempt to suppress her story. He wanted to make sure that she didn’t influence the outcome of the 2016 election, so he decided to help Trump try to silence her—and he won’t be prosecuted for it.
While the spotlight is focused on this specific event, Pecker used AMI in a much larger, more insidious attempt to silence women’s ability to tell their truths by implementing “catch and kill” tactics to the benefit of Trump. This is something he and AMI emphatically and repeatedly denied until September of this year when he struck a non-prosecution agreement with the Southern District of New York. This agreement protects Pecker, National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, and the company’s chief content officer, who once claimed that Trump had never influenced any of the company’s editorial decisions.
How Catch & Kill Works
With Cohen finally decided to try
In other words, if Pecker caught wind of a woman with a story that reflected negatively on Trump (there’s got to be hundreds if not thousands out there, right?), he would offer her money for lifetime rights to the story and then bury it. Additionally, the woman would be legally bound to silence and unable to sell or tell her story ever again.
Essentially, AMI and the folks at the Enquirer helped Trump rob women of their voice. There’s something especially troubling about a publisher—someone whose primary purpose is to sharestories—working to silence women and cover up a candidate for president’s actions.
Beyond the National Enquirer
The details and extent to which Pecker used his publishing company to help Trump and hurt women are
AMI publishes over 21 magazines, though the only one mentioned in the news is the National Enquirer. In fact, it took me longer than it should have to understand that it wasn’t the National Enquirer that arranged for and paid the hush money—it was AMI.
Of the 21 magazines that AMI publishes, eight focus on kids and teens, and nearly half of those appeal to teen girls. Additionally, one is a “woman’s” publication. All of which is particularly troubling.
Hit Pecker Where It Hurts
Women’s stories are powerful. In fact, they are so powerful, that men in power want to silence them. Pecker, Trump, and their catch and kill tactics are proof of that.
A publisher that actively and illegally tries to silence women shouldn’t be a publisher at all.
These are the names of Magazines AMI publishes. I will not add links to them or to AMI because I will not support or promote any publication that plays a role in oppressing women. Once you look through this list, if you find that you regularly read or subscribe to one, consider finding an alternative (preferably woman-owned/run publication):
- Men’s Journal
- Muscle & Fitness
- Muscle & Fitness Hers
- US Weekly
- Star
- OK!
- Radar
- In Touch Weekly
- Life & Style
- Closer
- SoapOpera Digest
- NationalEnquirer
- Globe
- J-14
- Girl’sWorld
- Quizfest
- TeenBo$$
- BakeIt Up!
- Animal Tales
- Coloring With Mommy and Daddy
- PuzzleFun
Female- Forward Alternatives To AMI Publications/Brands
If you happen to have a subscription to one of the publications above, and would rather not Pecker or AMI, the following is a list of publications that are either woman owned, or run primarily by women for you to switch your prescription to.
Women’s Health Has an all-women editorial team
Outside Female-heavy editorial team
Red Tricycle (Parenting) Woman-owned, woman-run
BUST Woman-owned
Bitch Woman-owned
CRWN Woman-owned
Bright Light: for girls ages 10-16. Woman-owned.
Crybaby: Female-Teen-Owned
Keke: Woman/Teen-Owned
Women are the world’s most powerful consumers. Perhaps that’s why so many magazines are geared toward us. While we may not have a say over the deals that are made by the government or in court, we certainly can send a loud and clear message with our pocketbook and the media we choose to consume. The best way to let Pecker know how you feel about his approach to handling women’s stories is to hit him where it hurts most.
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