Feb 11, 2009 03:40 PM
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Wed Feb 10
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Earlier this month we told you about rumors of serious money troubles at Vibe , said to have endangered the March issue. The company denied that. But the "money troubles" part was obviously accurate:
Vibe magazine is cutting its paid circulation 25%, reducing its frequency to 10 issues a year from 12, and merging its print and digital editorial operations, all in the magazine industry's latest response to the twin attacks by recession and new media.
Bingo. They did get that March issue out, though! The private equity firm that owns Vibe is also raising the subscription price, and "avoiding layoffs by adopting a four-day workweek accompanied by 10% to 15% pay cuts for its employees." Which sucks, but hey, it's better than a layoff, and times are tough everywhere these days. Vibe: yet another magazine that once turned me down for a job, which turned out to be not that bad of a thing in the end. [Ad Age]
UPDATE: Vibe just sent out a press release that—if you look carefully enough—contains all the information above, but mixed with lots of optimism, and under this headline:
VIBE MEDIA GROUP SHARPENS BUSINESS MODEL FOR TOMORROW'S MEDIA LANDSCAPE TO BETTER SERVE AUDIENCE AND MARKETERS
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT TRANSFORMS INTO CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
NEW PRINT TITLE, MOBILE PLATFORM AND ENHANCED VIBE TV OFFERINGS LAUNCH
SIX STAFF PROMOTIONS
Mmm. Flack-y.
Send an email to Hamilton Nolan, the author of this post, at Hamilton@gawker.com.
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