Jane Pratt (born 11 November 1962 in San Francisco, California) is the founding editor of Sassy and Jane.
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Biography & early career
Pratt was raised in Durham, North Carolina. At 15, she attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. After Andover, Pratt went to Oberlin College in Ohio, where she received her degree in Communications, with a minor in Modern Dance. Her publishing career began with internships at Rolling Stone magazine and Sportstyle, a Fairchild Publication. After graduating, Pratt landed her first job as assistant editor of McCall's and in 1986, became an associate editor of Teenage Magazine, from where she went on to found Sassy. Pratt and partner, actor and writer Andrew Shaifer have a daughter, Charlotte Jane (b. December 2003). In March 2007, Pratt revealed on her Sirius Satellite Radio show that she had a lesbian affair with Drew Barrymore in the early 90's. Barrymore appeared on the cover of the debut issue of Jane magazine in 1997. [1]
Sassy
At the age of 24, Pratt became the founding editor (and youngest magazine editor-in-chief ever) of Sassy, a magazine for teenage girls. Under Pratt, the magazine experienced rapid circulation growth. The magazine's hipness factor increased dramatically when it issued a limited-edition Sonic Youth flexi-disc (a cover of the New York Dolls "Personality Crisis") and it became known that band members Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon were fans of the teen magazine. The magazine's affinity for indie rock led to the formation of the band Chia Pet, which counted Sassy writer Christina Kelly and Jane Pratt as members. Chia Pet released "Blind Date" on the Kokopop label in 1992, which won simultaneous Single of the Week honors in both NME and Melody Maker UK music weeklies.
Television and books
The success of Sassy led Pratt to host two talk shows, on FOX and Lifetime, neither of which were successful. Pratt was also a frequent contributor to VH-1 and EXTRA, where she was featured interviewing such personalities as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Michael Stipe of REM, and Drew Barrymore. Pratt is the author of two books, For Real: The Uncensored Truth About America's Teenagers (Hyperion, September 1995) and Beyond Beauty: Girls Speak Out on Looks, Style and Stereotypes, which is published by Callaway Editions in association with Clarkson Potter.
Jane
After Sassy was bought by Los Angeles-based Peterson Publishing in 1994, the Greenwich Village, New York-based Pratt regrouped with several former Sassy staffers to form Jane magazine, a lifestyle magazine for women (18–34), which debuted three years later. Its first cover featured actress Drew Barrymore. Other colleagues have included singer Michael Stipe, whom she dated; director Spike Jonze, whom she hired as editor of short-lived teenage-boy-targeted Dirt magazine; actor Chloë Sevigny, who was once a summer intern at Sassy; and Pamela Anderson, who wrote a regular monthly column for Jane. Jane was nominated for a National Magazine Award for General Excellence by the American Society of Magazine Editors, and Pratt was named "Editor of the Year" in 2002 by Adweek Magazine. In April 2005, she had a miscarriage while pregnant with twin daughters. On 25 July 2005, Pratt announced that she was resigning from her position as editor in chief of Jane and would be leaving the company on 30 September 2005, exactly eight years after its debut issue. Circulation has steadily increased since the magazine's debut, with 700,000 readers as of the day Pratt announced she would be stepping down. On July 9, 2007, Charles H. Townsend, President & CEO of Condé Nast Publications, announced that Jane magazine will cease publication with its August 2007 issue. The website, janemag.com, will also be shut down. “This was a very difficult decision for us,” Mr. Townsend said. “We worked diligently to make Jane a success. However, we have come to believe that the magazine and website will not fulfill our long-term business expectations.”
Trivia
Pratt appears in R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People" video.
