American Media, Inc. Announces New Publisher for Shape Magazine.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2003

Carolyn Bekkedahl, Executive Vice President of American Media, Inc. and Publishing Director of the Weider Active Lifestyle Group, today named Diane Newman as the new publisher of Shape magazine.

Until her recent promotion to Publishing Director, Ms. Bekkedahl had served as Shape's Publisher.

The titles in the Weider Active Lifestyle Group are Shape, Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health, and represent the leading publications in the women's active lifestyle, pre- & postnatal fitness and self-care categories. These titles have a readership in excess of 9 million, with Shape the market leader in both circulation and advertising. The magazine was recently named to the list of Adweek's Top Ten Hottest Magazines of 2002.

"I am so pleased to have Diane Newman as Shape's new Publisher, reporting to me," Ms. Bekkedahl said. "Diane has deep knowledge of the active lifestyle and women's service categories, as well as valuable relationships across numerous business sectors. She's the ideal candidate to take charge."

Commenting on the appointment, David J. Pecker, Chairman and CEO of American Media, Inc., said, "Shape is already off to an outstanding start in 2003, leading the category in both market share and total ad pages. I know Carolyn will be a tough act to follow, but based on Diane's track record, she is more than up to the challenge."

Ms. Newman added she was thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as Shape Publisher and looked forward to "taking Shape to the next level."

Ms. Newman had been the Associate Publisher of Redbook since 2001. Prior to that, she had been Publisher of Fitness Magazine and had also worked with Family Circle, YM and Prevention. She began her publishing career with Woman's Day.

American Media, Inc. is one of the largest media companies in the U.S. The company publishes six of the 14 best selling weekly magazines, including the #2 and #4 titles, the National Enquirer and Star. AMI recently acquired Weider Publications, the leading publisher of health and fitness magazines, including Shape, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Muscle & Fitness Hers, Flex, Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health. The company also publishes the best selling country music magazines, Country Weekly and Country Music; a Latino entertainment magazine, Mira!; two automotive magazines, AMI's Auto World and NOPI Street Performance Compact; and more than 200 Mini-Mags and Digests. AMI recently launched its own book division with 7 titles released to date. In addition to print properties, AMI owns Distribution Services, Inc., the country's #1 in-store magazine merchandising company.