Consumer Reports Buying Guide will become online only

The Consumer Reports annual Buying Guide is becoming a digital-only publication, according to a letter inside the latest Consumer Reports magazine from chief marketing officer Lauren Stanich.

Stanich cited the increasing cost of paper, printing and postage. Subscribers will receive an email in November when the Buying Guide is online and how to download the publication.

“As a nonprofit organization, we’re also committed to managing our expenses so we can continue to invest in the content and testing you rely on from Consumer Reports,” said Stanich.

The move comes after the publication cut more than 20 positions and eliminated 28 vacant positions out of a staff of nearly 600.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.