Big news from gay mag The Advocate.

After 15-years as editor, Anne Stockwell has "stepped down," thus making room for new EIC Jon Barrett, who will apparently be leading the long-running pub in a "new direction." And here! networks, which bought the PlanetOut periodicals earlier this year, couldn't be more excited about the regime change. Said honchos Stephen P. Jarchow and Paul Colichman:

We are thrilled that Jon Barrett will bring his talent to this important brand and continue the historic tradition of The Advocate. Barrett will provide the magazine with a provocative new perspective around the critical issues affecting the lives of the LGBT community as well as expand Advocate.com into a definitive, daily online news source.

Like Stockwell, Barrett's an industry veteran and previously worked as senior editor at Real Simple, O at Home and Cargo.

Full release, after the jump…

CONTINUED »

It's no secret PlanetOut Inc's been having some trouble.

Not only did the gay media company's stock take a tumble earlier this year, but ad pages have fallen in its primary titles, The Advocate and Out, a trend no doubt perpetuated by publisher Joe Landry's departure for BlackBook.

Now, in an attempt to turn things around, PlanetOut's publishing division, LPI Media, and a new publisher are hoping to take the titles in new direction: up.

CONTINUED »