A Letter From the Publisher

By Richard B. Thomas

Since 1985 I have used this column to tell you the story behind the stories in TIME and to acquaint you with the people who produce the world's pre- eminent newsmagazine. Beginning next week, I will bequeath this responsibility to Robert L. Miller, TIME's new publisher, and his signature will take the place of mine at the bottom of this weekly letter.

I am leaving the publisher's chair to begin working with all of Time Inc.'s magazines as senior vice president responsible for addressing advertising sales opportunities, issues and policies. Though last year was a difficult one for the entire industry, TIME not only maintained but enhanced its leadership in the magazine field. We increased our edge in advertising revenue and had the largest share of ad pages in all newsmagazines for our strongest showing in two decades. Reader demand for TIME also remained strong. In the U.S., our circulation exceeded our guaranteed rate base by 232,395 copies in 1986, compared with 96,320 in 1985. That brought our weekly U.S. sales total to more than 4.8 million copies, reaching more than 23 million readers. In addition, readers buy 1,341,500 copies a week in 92 foreign countries, bringing our total circulation to more than 6 million.

I am proud to have been associated with TIME's journalistic excellence, which has included exclusive interviews with Ronald Reagan, Corazon Aquino and Ethiopia's Mengistu Haile Mariam. Our coverage ranged from the protracted agony of South Africa to the outpouring of People Power in the Philippines, the tragedy of Challenger to the triumph of Voyager, the classical genius of Pianist Vladimir Horowitz to the postmodern wit of Pop Singer David Byrne. And we continue to receive accolades from our peers. In 1986 TIME won the National Magazine Award for excellence in design, and the Overseas Press Club singled out TIME photographers for the Olivier Rebbot Award for photographic reporting and the Robert Capa Gold Medal for enterprising and courageous photojournalism.

I am confident these achievements will continue under my successor, who will be the eleventh publisher of TIME. A native of Los Angeles, Miller earned an M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School before joining the controller's office at Time Inc. in 1974. By 1983, when Miller became publisher of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, he was, at 34, one of the youngest ever named to that position at any of the company's magazines. Says Miller of his new assignment: "I'm honored and excited to have the opportunity to work with many of the best people in the magazine business."