To Our Readers

By ELIZABETH VALK LONG President

Those of you who keep track of our masthead will note a change this week. Likewise, those who follow our "From the Publisher" letters (we know you're out there) will have noticed that this note to you sports a new headline. Both reflect recent changes in the way Time operates, designed to bring business decisions closer to our readers and advertising customers. In my new role as president, I will continue to oversee all business functions at Time that taken together make up the publishing side of the magazine. In addition, I am now responsible for a variety of activities formerly managed at the corporate level of our company.

As part of this new configuration, I am pleased to announce, Jack Haire has become Time's new publisher. Jack's primary responsibility will be to represent the magazine in the advertising marketplace and lead our nationwide ad sales and marketing staff.

The change will not, of course, affect the magazine's editorial content. The distinction between "church" (the editors) and "state" (the publishing side) will continue to be observed. But in alerting you to this change, we want to acknowledge that our readers and advertisers are partners. Without advertising, a subscription to Time would cost nearly $100 more a year. In choosing Jack as Time's top executive in the advertising community, we have % picked a seasoned professional with a distinguished track record. A nearly 20- year veteran of the publishing industry, Jack came to Time Inc. four years after graduating from American University in 1974. For the past two years, he worked as regional vice president in Chicago, where he represented all our company's magazines in the Midwest. There he managed to cultivate an enviable reputation as someone who had endless time to listen to the concerns of his colleagues and clients -- he has been known to miss more than one plane that way -- while getting twice as much business done as his competitors. He also picked up an ugly, if effective, golf swing. We welcome him back, and wish Billy, 7, the older of his two sons, luck with the tough transition he's worried about from the Bulls' backyard to the land of the Knicks. After Jack's brief tenure in 1989 as Time's advertising sales director, his colleagues presented him with a clock emblazoned, Thanks for a great six months. He recently asked if he would have to give it back. No -- we're just happy to have more Time with him.