The looming biz magazine shakeout

Robert MacMillan of Reuters writes Tuesday about the impending shakeout among business magazines.

MacMillan writes, “Business news publishers rubbed their hands in glee when the financial crisis grabbed headlines last fall, saying the meltdown would deliver a windfall blown in by widespread interest in their stories.

“It did not turn out that way. Appetite for news does not always translate into revenue, especially at a time when blogs, wire services such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters and other outlets crowd into news analysis territory that the big magazines had long claimed.

“The big three U.S. financial news magazines, BusinessWeek, Fortune and Forbes, must now prove their relevance. If they cannot, at least one might go out of business, experts say.

“‘I don’t think that the big three will remain standing or remain in the same competitive situation a year from now, or maybe even six months from now,’ said Kevin Gentzel, president and group publisher of Forbes Media.”