Reader's Digest Rescue Effort Seems Awfully Familiar

How much symbolism does it take to turn around a bankrupt publishing company?

If there's an answer, you can be sure that Mary Berner won't fall short of it. Berner is the CEO of Reader's Digest Association, which filed for Chapter 11 in August. A former executive at Conde Nast Publications, Berner is rummaging deep in her bag of business-school tricks for ways to galvanize a company whose name is virtually synonymous with a bygone era in media culture.