The Provocative New York Times Bestseller

"[A]n exposé that will almost certainly wipe those big smiles off the faces of Katie, Diane, Barbara, and a few other important divas in the world of big-time journalism."---Bernard Goldberg, author of Bias

Spin Sisters tell you what to think, and how you feel. They tell today's women that they are frazzled, frumpy, and fearful and that their lives are too tough for them to handle.

Spin Sisters are the women at the top of the media heap, the Girls' Club who lunch, party, and weekend together, support the same left-of-center causes, and think alike.

Spin Sisters present their favorite celebrities' liberal messages with a halo of approval even though you may not share those liberal attitudes or values.

Spin Sisters think all women should agree with them because they are sure they know what's good for you---even better than you may know yourself!

"Ann Coulter fans: This one is for you."---Kirkus Reviews

Myrna Blyth was the editor-in-chief of Ladies' Home Journal from 1981 to 2002 and was also in charge of the business side of the magazine for more than a dozen years. She was also founding editor-in-chief of More magazine. She has won numerous awards as an editor and magazine executive, including the Magazine Publishers of America's Henry Johnson Fisher Award and the Publishing Executive of the Year Award from Advertising Age. Before joining Ladies' Home Journal, Blyth was the executive editor of Family Circle. She's married, has two sons, and lives in New York City.

Chapter One
Spin, Sisters, Spin

Remember way back when Rosie O`Donnell was the "Queen of Nice," when her syndicated talk show was almost as popular as Oprah`s? For an hour every weekday, she seemed like such a cheery girlfriend, always so good-humored and smiling. Why, we were even supposed to believe that Rosie-such a cut-up-really, really, really had a crush on Tom Cruise.

That was all before a German publishing conglomerate turned McCall`s, America`s oldest women`s magazine, into Rosie, a publication that was supposed to appeal to millions of readers who were allegedly just like Rosie, described by the magazine as a young working mother interested in kids, cooking, and crafts. Were they kidding? How many lesbian moms with multimillion-dollar bank balances, bodyguards for their kids, and a political point of view to the left of Madonna`s live on your block? Calling Rosie typical is like saying Princess Di was just a single mom trying to juggle two kids, keep a wardrobe up-to-date, and still find time for volunteer work.

Now, anyone who actually knew Rosie and admired her gift for comedy might have called her talented and very funny but, quite frankly, never nice. I suppose it`s possible to find something phonier than Rosie`s relentlessly upbeat on-camera persona-Pamela Anderson`s chest comes to mind-but it`s not easy. Still, that didn`t stop the media from gushing over Rosie`s daily doses of hearty good nature. And pretending that she, in her uniform of dark man-tailored suits, was maybe just a wee bit tomboyish. In cover stories in a battery of women`s magazines including Redbook, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping and, I admit it, Ladies` Home Journal, her "niceness" was hailed, and Rosie was extolled as a talented comedienne, a good mother, and a generous philanthropist, some of which may be true.

But nobody ever mentioned she was also hell on wheels.

I was part of the spin. As the Journal editor, I had the job of organizing several cover stories on Rosie, including photo shoots. It was never pleasant. Rosie did not like to have her picture taken. Rosie did not like to tell anyone her correct clothing size. So when she arrived at the studio where the magazine`s cover was to be shot, the dozens of outfits hanging on the rack waiting there for her didn`t fit. Already angry when she walked in, that made Rosie even madder. Rosie also didn`t like the photographer who was taking her picture. And she didn`t like the makeup artist or the hair stylist or the fashion consultant, all of whom had been hired at great expense to make her look as attractive as possible. Rosie didn`t even like to smile.

But you`d never know it to see the final cover with Rosie beaming from the newsstands like your new best friend with a bright and peppy cover blurb to cap off the charade. That was part of the spin, too.

Once I gave a luncheon for Rosie. It seemed like a good idea at the time. To get her to be the guest of honor, the magazine contributed a large sum in her name to one of her favorite charities. This, by the way, happens all the time. It`s the way celebrities hit up publications to give to the star`s pet philanthropic projects. Our luncheon for a couple of hundred guests at the Rainbow Room, on the top of Rockefeller Center, was held during the first year of Rosie`s talk show, when she was very popular. Many of the guests were fans and were eager to get close to her. They assumed Rosie in person was like the Rosie she played on TV. But Rosie, looking bored and sulky, was having none of it.

She sat glumly on a raised dais with Libby Pataki, the pleasant, down-to-earth wife of the governor of New York, and me. When a perfectly polite woman came up and asked for an autograph, the Queen of Nice harrumphed that she didn`t give them. Libby Pataki murmured something noncommittal like "Oh, that`s interesting." Rosie looked annoyed. When she finally got up to speak, she turned and snidely said, "Listen, Lib, you don`t like that I don`t give autographs? Well, I only give them to kids. To anyone older than that, I say, you want my autograph? Get a fuggin` life."

Rude and crude. But Rosie was the star of the moment. Everyone laughed and applauded, thrilled that Rosie had shared with us the nasty way she brushed off her fans. This wasn`t a crowd who would ever challenge a celebrity`s inappropriate behavior, much less take on the hottest ticket in town. "That Rosie, she`s so outrageous. Isn`t she great?" they chattered, reaffirming each other`s instinct to never, never, never criticize a star.

A Coming-Out Party

While she hosted her daily talk show, Rosie employed a contingent of very experienced publicists from PMK/HBH, the most powerful celebrity public relations firm in the country, who accompanied her virtually everywhere. In fact, one publicist insisted that when the Journal did a cover shoot in Miami with Rosie, she, too, had to be flown there, at the magazine`s expense, just to make sure her client was "comfortable." Highly paid hand-holders go with the territory when it comes to celebrity day care.

When Rosie decided to end her daily television talk show, she was also about to publish a book about her life called Find Me. In a hit-and-run maneuver, Rosie wanted finally to tell the truth about her homosexuality to the American public. Although leaving television, she expected to continue to oversee her magazine.

Her "coming out" was a carefully orchestrated two-month-long media campaign, overseen by Cindi Berger, a top PMK publicist, described by the New York Post as one of "The 50 Most Powerful Women in New York." Cindi is one of the Precinct Commanders of the Access Police, the handlers who control press entrée to movie, music, and television stars with an iron fist. She oversees a whole stable of "problem kid" clients including Sharon Stone and Mariah Carey and those insightful foreign policy analysts, the Dixie Chicks, whose headline-making behavior makes them all media favorites. Cindi is in charge of deciding which of her stars will be made available to appear on which magazine cover, which network television newsmagazine show will get the exclusive interview and which will be shut out. You thought editors and producers picked who would appear on their covers and shows? Not exactly. But more about that later.

Cindi, who says she shares Rosie`s political philosophy as most in the media do, was in favor of her client`s new honesty but wanted to package the disclosure very carefully. She arranged for a highly promoted two-hour prime-time interview special on ABC with Diane Sawyer.

The Sawyer interview would focus not on the talk show host`s own personal story but rather on a related issue that was important to Rosie, her outrage that in the state of Florida where she lived, homosexual couples were not allowed to adopt children. Cindi had carefully researched opinions about the issue and believed women in general would be interested in Rosie`s point of view.

Then, to further take the edge off Rosie`s admission, Barbara Walters, another of Cindi`s clients, pitched in. Weeks before the Sawyer interview, Barbara casually mentioned on her show, The View, that Rosie was gay, as if it were no big deal. But what was made a big deal was Rosie`s determination to assist the ACLU in overturning the Florida adoption law. That aspect of the prime-time special was promoted twice on 0Good Morning America and on ABC affiliates` local news programs. World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings carried an excerpt from the special as if it were major news. Even the show`s title, "Rosie`s Story: For the Sake of the Children," fit right in to the carefully created ACLU propaganda campaign.

Finally, the big night of the S