Los Angeles Magazine names new president, publisher; ex-National Geographic ad chief gets top magazine post.

The former vice president of advertising for National Geographic, Joan McCraw, has been named president and publisher of Los Angeles Magazine.

McCraw will replace Geoff Miller, publisher and co-founder of Los Angeles Magazine. Miller had announced in April that he would retire after 34 years with the publication.

McCraw directed National Geographic's advertising strategy, as well as overseeing its marketing and sales teams from 1989 to 1994. In McCraw's time there, the magazine had five straight years of advertising revenue gains.

"The ability Joan demonstrated at National Geographic -- building a preeminent brand, forging alliances with corporate America, initiating programs around the environment, education and other key concerns -- will be invaluable in positioning Los Angeles Magazine for the future," said Ann Maynard Gray, president of the Diversified Publishing Group of Capital Cities/ABC, parent company of Los Angeles Magazine.

Prior to National Geographic, from 1983 to 1989, McCraw was director of sales development for Gannett Corp.'s USA Today newspaper, and vice president for strategic sales and marketing at USA Weekend magazine.

She has also held posts in sales for TV Guide in Los Angeles and the now defunct New West magazine, and served as circulation manager at Petersen Publishing Co.

McCraw said she is well aware of the challenges that face her at Los Angeles Magazine, but maintained that she has a solid base to build upon.

"My objective is to build the (Los Angeles Magazine) brand and add to the franchise," she said.

"The focus of the book will be continuing to help readers grasp life in L.A.," said McCraw, who has lived in Los Angeles for 18 years. "The city is changing and we need to change with it."

Los Angeles Magazine -- with a monthly circulation of 156,000 and a reported average subscriber household income of $125,000 -- is considered by many to be the nation's leading "city magazine." Founded in 1960, it has survived in a market where many competitors, including California magazine, New West and L.A. Style, have folded.

McCraw's appointment comes at a time when city magazines across the country -- including Los Angeles -- are facing increased pressure, according to a source close to the magazine community, who asked not to be identified. The source noted city magazines formerly had a unique niche in "service journalism" in focusing on features, restaurant reviews, travel stories and top 10 lists.

But they were so successful that everyone from daily newspapers to television news shows have gotten into the act as well, emulating their editorial focus and cutting into their franchise.

"City magazines in general have been suffering," the source said, adding that many in the magazine industry question whether the city magazine category will ever regain the strength it had shown a decade ago.

Los Angeles Magazine, while a solid survivor, has not been immune from this pressure. What's more, the source said, the Southern California recession's disastrous effect on the local retail market has cut deeply into its advertising base.

"There just aren't as many trendy boutiques as there used to be," the source said.

Dick Altman, a spokesman for Los Angeles Magazine, said parent company Capital Cities/ABC does not break out the earnings and revenues for Los Angeles Magazine from its quarterly or annual reports.

However, he did say that Los Angeles Magazine's advertising pages had climbed to 533 pages for the first six months of this year, up 6.6 percent from a year before.

The magazine is also facing competition from Buzz, a 70,000 circulation, 10-times-a-year magazine that acquired the assets of L.A. Style last year.