With the likes of Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and a Ron Paul-shaped void taking up most of the media’s time and focus lately, not much attention has been given to Jon Huntsman (Jr.), the former Governor of Utah and former ambassador to Singapore and China. But, nestled somewhere near an in-depth look at model Kate Moss’ wedding, Vogue magazine has provided an interview with the GOP candidate they are calling “The Outsider.”

As you would expect from a profile in a primarily fashion-focused magazine, Huntsman’s aesthetic charms do not go by unnoticed: The way one of his eyebrows seems permanently cocked, lending him a “perpetual expression of thoughtful engagement, the look of someone listening intently to what others are saying,” the manner in which his tanned skin, salt-and-pepper hair and attractive family helped The Wall Street Journal compare the launch of his campaign to “a Ralph Lauren product rollout.”

Despite what many may think about the political leanings of those that work in the media, accepted journalistic standards are to try to adopt a neutral stance in sharing the news and keep political leanings ambiguous. So, when lists of campaign donors are published and it is revealed that media figures have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for politicians, things get a little complicated.

Facebook may have been down yesterday, but its cofounder Mark Zuckerberg is up. The 26-year-old social-media whiz kid has been listed in the Forbes 400 as the 35th richest person in America, shooting past older media barons like Newscorp’s Rupert Murdoch, who is ranked 38th, and Apple’s Steve Jobs, who is ranked 42nd. Software kingpin Bill Gates of Microsoft still reigns on top of the Forbes list of rich people.

Gwyneth Paltrow is on the cover of August’s Vogue, which would be less than interesting if not for the fact that she was interviewed for the feature by longtime Vogue foodwriter Jeffrey Steingarten. As Stengarten is not a celebrity feature writer I figured there was a chance Vogue readers could possibly be in for an celebrity article that had not been varnished to nauseating perfection by PR hacks. And in the end, I was right!

Today, Vogue unveiled their highly anticipated free iPhone application, Vogue Stylist. Rather than an application that takes users through the editorial they are already seeing on the pages of an issue, Vogue Stylist aims to inform users of the hottest trends from the pages of Vogue, and style those trends in conjunction with one’s own personal wardrobe.

In the March issue of Vogue, contributing editor Rebecca Johnson snagged an interview with Timothy Geithner, Secretary of Treasury. Perhaps it seems ironic–even wrong–to place “the man responsible for crafting much of the bailout” next to a $5,000 Prada bag, but Johnson’s article provides a refreshing, humanizing peek into Geithner’s life. Not just his closet.

Last fall, a hacker broke into Conde Nast’s computer system, flinging early copies of GQ, Vogue and other publications all over the Internet. To prevent further breaches of trust and budget, Conde set up the Fraud Reporting Hotline. According to the memo sent by Chief Financial Officer John Bellando, employees are encouraged to turn in anyone guilty of “release of proprietary information, accounting/audit irregularities, falsification of company records, theft of goods/services/cash,” and “unauthorized discounts/payoffs.”

Fashion editors and stylists took note after Natasha Poly walked down the runway in the bondaged masterpiece that quite possibly defined Frida Giannini’s Spring 2010 collection for Gucci. But in a collection full of architectural masterpieces and playful ikat print frocks, can’t more of the collection be shown?

Esquire, Fortune, Playboy, Vanity Fair, New York: End the War on Christmas Magazine Covers! Who knows, magazines might even increase those newsstand sell-through numbers that are all doing so terribly if they just get back into the holiday spirit. To make a case, we’ve collected the Top 20 Christmas Magazine Covers of All Time.

“MeiselPic” is alas not a new Twitter photo service but a multi-pic editorial for Vogue Italia by noted fashion photographer Steven Meisel, inspired by social media and the grassroots-level innovators bringing fashion ideas to life via their Facebook, Lookbooks and Twitpics.

Since the September issue of Vogue a few things have become clear. One, someone in the office really likes blondes — September was Charlize Theron, October Michelle Williams, November’s cover featured a bevvy of blondes, and this month, a platinum Cate Blanchett reigns as cover girl. Two, a certain design team has gotten lazy and unimaginative. Too much Photoshop!

Congrats to the New York Yankees, who clinched their 27th World Series last night by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 7 to 3. The Yankees’ dominance of Major League Baseball is the stuff of legends. But let’s look at their success in a way that is relevant to our media coverage: let’s compare the payroll differential between the Yankees and the Phillies as if they were media outlets. Fair? Balanced? I think so!

Mediaite first reported that layoffs at Vogue would be announced yesterday. Peter Kafka at All Things D later reported that at least six have been laid off (we had heard that seven were let go). Today we are hearing that another title will be letting staffers go, though its unclear at this point which magazine will be making the cuts.

It has been widely reported that nearly every surviving title at Condé Nast has been tasked with cutting 25% of their overall budgets. We also know that the Editors-in-Chief at each title have been given the leeway to make the cuts as they see fit, on their own schedule. The timing of these cuts has been closely guarded until now, and it remains unclear when cuts will come for each title.

UPDATE – All Things D reports that at least six have been laid off.

Things almost seemed normal again at New York’s just-concluded Fashion Week. Yes, some of the fabrics on the runways might have been cheaper, and bottles of water were handed out at shows instead glasses of Veuve. But as in years past, Vogue editor Anna Wintour still reigned supreme as she sat front-row at the most [...]

Slate’s Jack Shafer comparing the fate of Conde Nast to that of that other overreaching, reality-ignoring American powerhouse, General Motors. Next up: Graydon Carter and Anna Wintour fly to Washington in their private jets to beg for a bailout!

the shuttering of Gourmet remains to many the biggest shock of today’s Condé Nast layoffs. The fate of its equally well-known editor Ruth Reichl is unknown right now, though considering the company plans to keep both the publishing and television arm of Gourmet active chances are they will find a place for her. That said, what does Reichl’s precarious position say about the fate of Condé’s other high profile editors?

As of a few weeks ago, the fashion world has been in a tizzy over Lizzie Miller’s naked body, stomach roll and all, in the September issue of Glamour, and they’re not done yet; there’s more to come.

With all the recent talk of McKinsey and the demise of Condé Nast, it is with some nostalgia (and perhaps some little schadenfreude) that we recall a time when a ride in the Condé elevators was enough of a life- (and closet!) changing experience that the Times felt the need to devote an entire column to it.

Well this puts a new spin on the Condé Nast McKinsey saga. WWD’s Memo Pad is reporting that despite all the recent focus on the recommended 25% budget cuts across the board, reported earlier this week, the powers that be at Conde may still opt to close down some magazines altogether. Who knew that was even an option?

Today in The Daily Beast, Tina Brown remarks on the somewhat remarkable image recovery Anna Wintour has undergone since the release of the documentary The September Issue. As a former, high profile, controversial, Conde Nast editrix, Brown probably knows a little from whereof she speaks.

After a strong showing in The September Issue, Vogue‘s Anna Wintour tops Forbes‘ “2009′s Most Powerful Fashion Magazine Editors” list. But more interesting than the number one spot are the multimedia moves Wintour and her fellow editors made to retain relevance, not to mention Forbes‘ overlap with our own Power Grid rankings.

The September Issue, released in theaters this past weekend, follows Anna Wintour and her Vogue flock through nine months worth of planning, shooting, and laying out for Vogue’s 2007 September issue — fashion’s annual bible. 2007′s issue marked the publication’s largest issue in history, a stark contrast from this year’s September issue, which now sits on newsstands looking as skinny as its creators. But what appeared on the surface to be a movie about the world of high fashion quickly developed into much more.

Three years ago Maureen Dowd wrote a much talked about, much passed around column defending Anna Wintour and Meryl Streep‘s portrayal of her in the just-released Devil Wears Prada. The column was sharp, incisive, full of wit, and relevant. In short: Dowd at her best. In short, everything this past Sunday’s column about Wintour’s portrayal in the upcoming documentary was not.

There is something vaguely inspiring about Anna Wintour‘s utter refusal to trim her lifestyle in the face of a industry-wide recession that is promising to spell the end to magazines as we know them. Let others eat cake in the Condé Nast cafeteria and agonize to their heart’s content about the McKinsey evaluators, if you need Anna, she will be at the Ritz, thank-you very much.