What True/Slant means to Forbes

Sheila Shayon of Brand Channel writes Wednesday about what Forbes‘ acquisition of True/Slant will mean to the business magazine.

Shayon writes, “It’s fighting for its life in a media category, business journalism, that has been in a state of turmoil in the past year, with BusinessWeek sold to Bloomberg, Fortune changing its frequency and the Wall Street Journal launching a New York edition to take on the New York Times.

“The WSJ, the Financial Times and the Economist, in particular, have weathered the recession better than the house that flamboyant patriarch Malcolm Forbes built, which has been struggling for some time.

“By acquiring the year-old True/Slant, Forbes can tap into its network of bloggers and so-called ‘knowledge experts,’ freelancers who write about politics, culture, sports, business, health, science and food. With 300-plus contributors, Dvorkin projects ‘a record’ 1.5 million unique True/Slant visitors in May.

“Known for decades as catering to the world’s wealthiest, the family-built media brand was founded on the notion that ‘business was originated to produce happiness.’ That mantra hasn’t been enough to shield Forbes from recessionary dip in ad sales. While its website has survived with traffic-generating slideshows and lists, online ad sales aren’t enough to pay the bills.”

Read more here.