Media Roundup: Rolling Stone, Forbes, Red Eye, Starlog, & More

Oh, what a tangled world wide web we weave:

• Not all newspapers are collapsing and shrinking. Red Eye, the Chicago Tribune's free commuter tabloid, is expanding its circulation and distribution, reports the Trib's Phil Rosenthal.
• In an apparent attempt to replicate the success of tell-all books by former disgruntled employees, an unknown (but Jeff Bercovici names names) former employee of Forbes magazine is reportedly writing an insider book that allegedly lays bare things such as a feud between the Forbes brothers. Think of the book as sort of a Devil Wears Prada but boring. Will Kip Forbes get us his restaurant review before deadline? Will Steve return Bono's text message? Who gets to sleep with the Fabergé eggs under their pillow tonight? Turn the page to find out! Or don't.
  
• Speaking of laying bare secrets: It was published in The Globe, so you know it's got to be gospel. The gossip rag published an are-they-or-aren't-they-gay list of celebrities, which Matthew Rettenmund kindly shares. I think you can give little credence to much of it (the suspicions and the denials), but it is interesting to read some of the rumors. Rush Limbaugh? Oh, dear.
• As readers of this site know, I love behind-the-scenes stories of magazine companies, especially entrepreneurial ones. (No, this isn't hypocritical; I don't care about the personal relationships at Forbes. If that book were on the decision-making and history of the magazine -- now that I'd find interesting.) Starlog editor David McDonnell provides another look at his company's experience publishing -- and not publishing -- licensed movie magazines. (It's a follow-up to an earlier article by McDonnell on the same topic.)
  
• This is the oldest bit of magazine news I can report; everyone's already published the news. National Geographic Adventure is being canceled, after a very short attempt to sell it (which went nowhere, because who's going to buy a magazine that either retains someone else's brand or has to be rebranded at cost?). The brand will continue, reports Folio:, in a "multi-platform model." So, they couldn't sell it.
• Speaking of stretching brands across platforms, Rolling Stone magazine is opening a restaurant in Los Angeles.
  

My previous media roundup.