Now She's Queen for a Daily

By Laurence Zuckerman

The new editor of the gritty New York Post wears white linen skirts, a string of pearls and pink nail polish, and she comes from Philadelphia's genteel Main Line. Last week, after announcing the appointment of Magazine Veteran Jane Amsterdam to the top slot at one of the last bastions of no-holds-barred, spit-in-the-eye tabloid journalism, the Post's owner, Real Estate Magnate Peter Kalikow, presented her with a T shirt emblazoned with the paper's now legendary April 15, 1983, headline HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR. As earthy Post newsroom veterans (uncomfortably adorned in ties and jackets) were introduced to their new boss, many wondered if Amsterdam, of late an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, one of the toniest book publishers in the country, was up to the job. Says Amsterdam's friend and former boss, Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward: "There's not been a more interesting match since Jackie Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis."

To close observers of New York's escalating tabloid war, Kalikow's choice was either foolish or inspired. At 36, Amsterdam has impressive credentials, but they are largely in magazine journalism. After editing stints at New Jersey Monthly, New Times, New York and American Lawyer, she made her reputation as founding editor of Manhattan,inc., which broke new ground in 1984 with literate profiles of corporate raiders, high-powered lawyers and their ilk -- not the sort of thing one finds in the pages of the Post.

Indeed, Amsterdam's only newspaper experience is four years at the Washington Post, where she worked in the feature-oriented Style section and then in Woodward's investigative unit. Though her initial response to the Post's overtures was an "absolute no," Amsterdam now sees the job as the ultimate challenge. "Fear is a good reason to take a job," she insists. "My goal is to make this a great metropolitan newspaper."

Widely admired by the writers and editors who have worked with her, Amsterdam is known as a tough and careful master who savors the process of gathering news and labors over every nuance and comma. "She is one of the most energetic and committed editors I have ever seen," says Shelby Coffey | III, who worked with Amsterdam at the Washington Post and was recently named executive editor of the Los Angeles Times. Amsterdam's detractors complain that she can be impatient, has a thin skin and gets on better with male colleagues than with female. Amsterdam is married to her former boss at New Times, Jonathan Z. Larsen.

Those who are confident that Amsterdam has the skills to run the Post wonder how she will fare in a news organization where many consider journalistic ethics to be an oxymoron. Last year Amsterdam abruptly resigned from Manhattan,inc., claiming that Owner and Publisher D. Herbert Lipson was interfering too much in editorial matters. Before signing a three-year contract at a reported salary of $200,000 at the Post, however, Amsterdam says she received assurances that she will be given a free hand to edit a paper that is "accurate, responsible, well-reported and ethical." The liberal- leaning editor will, however, have no control over the Post's archconservative editorial pages.

Although Amsterdam and Post Publisher Peter O. Price insist that the essential character of the paper will not change, it is already in transition. Under Press Lord Rupert Murdoch, the Post lost millions trying to win blue- collar readers away from the rival Daily News, while attracting a scant 10% of New York City's newspaper advertising dollars. After rescuing the paper from imminent death when Murdoch was forced to sell it last February, Kalikow brought in Price, who switched it from afternoon to morning publication and launched an expensive campaign to woo upscale commuters.

At the moment the Post remains awash in red ink, but Kalikow predicts it will break even within three years. He also expects circulation to rise from its current level of 555,000 to 700,000, still well behind the Daily News's 1.2 million. Amsterdam says the pressure on her is not to make the Post profitable but to make it better. Still, that may be difficult because of the attrition of recent years, including the loss of two of the paper's most talented headline writers.

Given the backgrounds of both Amsterdam and Price, a founder of the aggressively upscale Avenue magazine, many observers believe Amsterdam's appointment confirms suspicions that the Post will now be aiming its sights on the Chablis-and-Brie set. Amsterdam talks about improving business coverage, and there are reports that veteran magazine writers such as Dominick Dunne, Pete Hamill and Mimi Sheraton have been invited to write for the paper. -

Wary Post veterans remember when the Daily News targeted the same readership with a magazine-style Tonight edition in the early 1980s -- and almost went under. Still, after facing the paper's demise only a few months ago, the staff is inured to shifting fortunes. Typically, one wag has even come up with the perfect Post headline for the latest turnabout: AMSTERDAMERUNG.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE

CREDIT: DIANA WALKER

CAPTION: MOVING UP

DESCRIPTION: Women who are publishers of newspapers.

With reporting by Roger Franklin and Naushad S. Mehta/New York