Jon Friedman, the media columnist at Marketwatch, predicts that the closing of business magazine Conde Nast Portfolio on Monday won’t be the last of the biz glossies to shutter.
Friedman writes, “The business model no longer can be sustained in a digital age. In a bear market where people prefer to sit on the sidelines, investment advice isn’t as important a commodity. If the readers aren’t there, advertisers would put their advertising dollars somewhere else as well, such as cable television and the Internet.
Will it be Time Inc’s Fortune? Or McGraw-Hill’s BusinessWeek? It seems like it is only a matter of time before a corporation decides to pull the plug on a cash drain. Forbes, which is privately owned, probably will keep its flagship asset afloat out of pride, if nothing else — unless Forbes’ new partner, Bono, disagrees, of course. Beware, Fast Company.
“Portfolio might have survived in better economic times. The monthly magazine started out horrendously but slowly found its way, thanks to strong coverage of the Wall Street meltdown. Conde Nast dramatically cut Portfolio’s staff and publication schedule not long ago — two sure signs that the end was near.”
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