People magazine readies checkbook for baby photos

Pssst!  Wanna see some baby pictures?  It’ll cost ya.

That’s the luring pitch to some celebrity magazine editors who are eager to write checks so their readers can see photos of newborns of show business people.

Advertising Age revealed that People magazine, a Time Inc. publication, is poised to pay Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony between $4 million and $6 million for exclusive U.S. photo rights of their twins, born Friday.

With no official announcement, People managing editor Larry Hackett was quoted by Ad Age saying, “I have no comment on these particular pictures.”

Grumpy Editor frowns on high-paying checkbook journalism, a bad trend, and recalls --- not too far back --- when Hollywood public relations people had difficult times trying to get newspaper editors excited over celebrities’ offspring in diapers.

Pictures of chimpanzees’ antics received far bigger play.  And that’s when publications had more editorial space to fill.

All this comes at a time when most magazines and newspapers are keeping a close eye on bottom lines.

Time Inc., which includes Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Money and Golf Magazine in its large stable, shuttered its Business 2.0 last fall after citing a decline in advertising revenue.  It had purchased the monthly business magazine six years earlier for about $68 million (or the equivalent of between 11 and 17 times the cost of a single set of baby images in 2008).

Celebrity magazines rely heavily on newsstand sales.  Babies on covers grab attention these days.

People has about 3.6 million circulation.