His career in magazines began in 1978, when he became an Associate Editor at
Us Magazine, a then year-old publication started by The New York Times Company as a competitor to the successful, recently launched
People. Sanders was the Features Editor by the time he left Us in 1985.
He joined
People as a Senior Writer in 1985, specializing in entertainment coverage
and had been promoted to Senior Editor by the time he left in 1991.
He transferred to another magazine in the Time Inc. stable,
Entertainment Weekly, joining the publication as a Senior Editor during its formative, groundbreaking years, when it won three ASME General Excellence Awards. Sanders had been promoted to Assistant Managing Editor and Executive Editor by the time he returned to
People in 2002.
During his second stint at
People, which lasted until 2008, his duties as Executive Editor included leading the magazine’s 300 reporters and correspondents as News Director, editing and overseeing the
People books division and running people.com.