Fortune Reduces Its Publishing Frequency
Posted on October 24, 2009
Fortune magazine is reducing the number of issues it publishes annually from 25 to 18. Reuters reports that the business magazine may also cut staff.
Fortune, like many other U.S. business magazines, has struggled in the advertising downturn.The New York Times reports that the cuts are part of a new round of layoffs from magazine publisher Time Inc.Fortune will publish two issues some months and just one issue during other months, in the new publishing schedule is part of a remodeling that is expected to result in staff cuts and a sharper focus on the long stories that have been its trademark, the Journal said.
The changes are part of another round of budget cuts at Time Inc., the nation's largest magazine publisher. Some layoffs were expected by year's end, though the executive said the number had not yet been determined. The news was reported in Friday's Wall Street Journal.The Wall Street Journal story about the changes at Fortune says big changes are planned for Fortune.com. The WSJ article says the magazine is even considering charging for features like the Fortune 500.Through September, ad pages across the magazine industry have fallen 27.3 percent this year, but business magazines fared much worse. Fortune, down 34.9 percent, was among the hardest hit, while its closest competitor, Forbes, was down 30.8 percent. Fortune's paid circulation, just over 850,000 in the first half of this year, has changed little in the last decade.