Consumer Reports ME Tiernan to retire

Robert Tiernan, the managing editor of Consumer Reports, is retiring after nine and a half years at the magazine.

Tiernan will be staying on through the August issue to help with a transition at the request of new editor Diane Salvatore, said a magazine spokesman.

His departure is not related to the layoffs and restructuring announced by the magazine and its parent in the past month, the spokesman added. Tiernan, who has a master’s degree at Missouri, previously was national editor and technology editor at Newsday.

The magazine underwent a redesign last year, but there’s talk of another overhaul, according to current and former Consumer Reports journalists. A spokesman said:

Diane Salvatore, who assumed the position of editor-in-chief last month, has ambitious plans for the magazine and is developing a comprehensive strategic plan to make it even more relevant to consumers and to drive even greater marketplace impact.  Readers likely will see a number of incremental improvements in the coming months.

Consumer Reports laid off 17 staffers last week. In May, the company announced that Salvatore would take over the flagship publication and that it was discontinuing ShopSmart magazine and its Money Adviser newsletter.

The company’s editorial side has been in turmoil for several years now. It has gone through three editors in the past three years and has struggled to revamp its operations to focus more on digital.

Consumer Reports magazine has 3.6 million subscribers. There also are more than 3 million subscribers to Consumer Reports Online.