Last summer, the Deseret Morning News did a story on Tara Bench, a 26-year-old Provo woman who was senior associate food editor at Martha Stewart Omnimedia.

Stewart's March 5 conviction of obstructing justice and lying about a stock sale might have left readers wondering if Bench's job was in jeopardy.

Well, not so far. In fact, Bench will appear Friday on TV's "Martha Stewart Living's Best of Weddings" week. The Utah State University culinary-school graduate will demonstrate cake decorating.

I did a phone interview with Bench Monday, but only on the conditions set by Martha's public-relations spokeswoman — Bench couldn't answer questions about Stewart or the company's future. No, she couldn't talk about what might happen with the TV show or future changes with the magazines.

I realize it's typical for large companies to be close-mouthed, especially given the circumstances. But not asking Bench about these things was like trying to ignore an elephant in your kitchen.

After all, a number of TV stations dropped Stewart's TV show (including KSL), and some newspapers (including the Deseret Morning News) dropped her column. And it would be hard to keep up a TV show if the host is serving time. Stewart resigned as head of her media company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, when she was indicted in 2003. After the conviction, she stepped down from the board but took the title of founding editorial director.

In response to my questions, the spokeswoman e-mailed me that Everyday Food has grown in circulation from 500,000 to 750,000, effective with the July '04 issue, and that the "Martha Stewart Living" TV show has been nominated for six Emmys.

And she added a statement about Martha's new job as founding editorial director: "Ms. Stewart continues to provide creative inspiration for new product design and development; author two pending books, 'Homekeeping' and 'Baking'; undertake contributing editor and television assignments; help continue to build public profiles for MSO's talented core-content experts; and provide input on the continuing evolution of MSO and its brand and brand labels and on strategic issues."

Rather than trying to decipher corporate-speak, let me insert my own opinion. Even with her blazing efficiency, there's no way Stewart could crank out all those magazine articles, newspaper columns, cookbooks, TV shows, etc., all by herself. It takes a lot of talented people to come up with the ideas, write the stories, take the photos and so on. Before, Stewart herself was the selling point, so it made sense to brand everything with the Martha name.

But now, with Stewart's future uncertain, I expect that some of these talented staffers will share more of the spotlight.

Bench is now senior editor for the magazines Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Weddings, Martha Stewart Kids and special sections.

"My job stayed pretty much the same, except I took on more administrative duties, as well as the head food editor on the Kids magazine," she said.

This isn't the first time Bench has been on TV with Martha. Last February, Stewart did some "Everyday Food" segments where she had a few editors — including Bench — cook with her on the show.

"It's fun. I like doing the segments with Martha, although I don't enjoy watching myself on TV," said Bench.

There's a lot to learn about doing TV, but the producers walk you through the segment before taping. "And luckily, it's not live, because I have to do things several times. But Martha is a great coach; she'll tell me when to face the camera and what to do."

Like most magazines, the Martha Stewart publications are put together three or four months in advance, and seasonal and holiday stories are done a year in advance, said Bench. So they're currently working on the September-October issues and just finished with next year's Easter and Passover stories. So I guess this could be an indication that the company still plans to be publishing its magazines by then.


If you watch

View Comments

What: "Martha Stewart Living's Best of Weddings"

When: Friday, 10 a.m.

Where: KJZZ, Ch. 14


E-mail: vphillips@desnews.com

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.