Kunes will be chief among many chiefs


        Hearst president Cathy Black has named an editor for Oprah Winfrey's magazine, which is set to launch next spring. She's Ellen Kunes, a former executive editor of both Cosmo and Redbook.
        Kunes, who is 40, starts her new job on Sept. 13. She was chosen from among of slew of contenders, including Rochelle Udell, who earlier this year announced her resignation as editor of Conde Nast's Self magazine.
         Kunes got the nod after a meeting with Winfrey last week.
        The magazine is to launch in April with an initial distribution of over 800,000 but its frequency has yet to be determined. And it still has no name.
        The magazine, however, will have what many expect to be winning editorial formula, the talk show host's mix of can-do optimism and spirituality. It will also have a ready-made readership in the millions of women who watch the show.
       Just how the magazine will be brought together editorially is a different matter, however.
       Kunes hasn't all that much time to build an editing crew, and just who will really run the magazine is unclear. A lot of powerful chieftains have been stirring the mix so far. 
       Black has been personally involved in developing the concept of the magazine, as has been Ellen Levine, the strong-willed editor in chief of Good Housekeeping.
       They in turn have been working closely with Winfrey. What Winfrey's ultimate role will be is unclear. She is expected to write a column and to kick in story ideas as she continues to produce her daily show.
       Also in the power mix is Gayle King,  a TV anchor and a longtime friend of Winfrey's from their days together as young television talents in Baltimore two decades ago.
      King will have the title of editor at large and serve as a liaison between  Winfrey and Kunes. That's once she leaves her job as anchor at WFSB-TV in Hartford in December.
        Hearst, though declining to discuss details of the launch, put out a press release in which it described Kunes' role as translating Winfrey's "vision onto the pages of this magazine."
           The release then went on to quote Kunes: "We want to make this the personal growth guide for the next century--giving readers all the tools they need to get what they want out of life."