Michelle Obama: One-Woman Cure for Magazine Woes?

Will Michelle Obama save the magazine industry? Check out Gawker's take. She and her husband the president upped People's February 2 single copy sales by 38 percent. Oprah's first-ever shared cover, with Michelle, brought in 25 percent more readers. It's no surprise that Michelle improved Essence readership--but by 83 percent? Wow!  New York's Michelle cover, though, added nada--zero additional readers.   How and why people respond to magazine covers has always been somewhat mysterious.  Yet Jackie O and Princess Di were best-selling favorites.  Is our new first lady following in that same tradition?  Publishers sure hope so.