Out magazine announces new editor in chief

After a months-long search, LPI Media Inc. announced today that it has named Aaron Hicklin the new editor in chief of Out magazine. Hicklin, presently the editor in chief of BlackBook magazine, will start April 24. "With his stellar track record, we are excited that Aaron is stepping into this position to lead the team at Out," Joe Landry, publisher and vice president of the magazine, said in a statement. "Aaron will play a key role in the continued success of Out and capturing the next generation of readers." At the New York City-based fashion-and-culture magazine BlackBook, which he's edited since 2003, Hicklin has worked with a range of cultural luminaries, from punk pioneer Richard Hell to rock stars Michael Stipe and Bono to writers and artists such as Joan Didion, Michael Cunningham, and Matthew Barney. Previously Hicklin helped launch the men's magazine Gear in 1998, serving as senior editor and then executive editor. He began his career in hard news as features editor of Scotland onSunday, where he was on a team that won an award for its special coverage of the 9/11 attacks. "The gay community has always been at the forefront of defining pop culture and fashion, and never more so than today," Hicklin said in a statement. "While magazines like Details are gay only when it suits them, we are unequivocally gay and forward-looking." He added, "The magazine will not be afraid to push buttons, to be provocative and counterintuitive when it seems right and necessary. Sometimes that might upset people, but I think the readership is ready and eager for a real debate about what it means to be gay in the new millennium." Out magazine is the nation's highest-profile general interest gay magazine. LPI Media also owns The Advocate as well as The OutTraveler,HIV Plus magazine, and Alyson Books. (The Advocate)