Like all births, this one was preceded by plenty of hard labor. Within six frantic weeks after assembling in Sydney, the WHO staff (nine on temporary assignment from the U.S., 15 from Australia) was producing its first issue. A complex network of computers had been installed to beam text and photos between New York City and Australia. "By two weeks ago, when we finished our Fergie cover, it had all fallen into place," marvels WHO editor Jacob Young from his office overlooking Sydney Harbor. "We knew we would be on the Australian stands with the Fergie story before our competitors."
This is the kind of weekly challenge that Young, 36, thrives on. As part of a posse of PEOPLE staffers sent to Sydney last year to turn out five test issues, he learned a thing or two about the competition—and Australian sensibilities. "They are sophisticated magazine buyers who adore celebrities," he says, "but have a healthy intolerance for people with too much money and not enough good sense." He also learned to speak—and edit—like a native in a land where words like fabbo (fabulous) and mozzie (mosquito) abound. Sometimes the meanings are evident; others, not. Take garbo. Here we mean a mysterious movie legend; there, a garbage collector.
Young's background serves WHO well. Born in Chickamauga, Ga., on Jan. 26—Australia Day—he majored in history at Stanford. As a reporter and writer for Newsweek and Newsweek International between 1979 and 1988, he covered such stories as the death of John Lennon and Ted Kennedy's presidential bid. "I also wrote many Australia stories," he says, "like the one on the giant Gippsland gurgling-earthworm festival." Joining PEOPLE in August 1988, he headed our Up Front section. "He has a wonderful news sense," says PEOPLE managing editor Landon Y. Jones. "Jake can spot a lead story in an item buried on page 22 of a newspaper."
He's at the heart of what WHO'S New York City—based international editor, Hal Wingo, 57, calls "a truly global magazine venture. About half our articles originate with PEOPLE in New York City, and the rest focus on Australian personalities." The challenge, says Young, is "finding an Australian voice for the magazine. We're not struggling, we're doing the fun part—learning about a wonderful new country." Goodo, Jake.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
