New Matilda editor Marni Cordell pens a farewell letter to readers as New Matilda published its final edition on Friday. But this isn’t the end of the New Matilda site…
Media death watch
No new New Matilda…yet
New Matilda editor Marni Cordell discusses the precarious future of the website: yes, it is still closing, unless a knight in shining armour appears very, very soon.
RIP Ralph, where lads used to learn a thing or two
A by-word for B-grade celebrities in bikinis and coarse blokey humour, Ralph magazine breathed its last VB-scented breath last week. Former writer Jason Mountney remembers when it was good.
What next for the Aussie blogosphere?
With news that New Matilda is folding, the tiny Aussie political blogosphere has shrunk even further. Replicating the magazine model online just doesn’t work, says Mark Bahnisch.
New media death watch: New Matilda to fold
Australian online comment website New Matilda is preparing shut its virtual doors, after funding for the venture dried up.
Can newspapers afford to snub theatre-goers?
The Sun Herald has followed the lead of the Herald Sun in dropping theatre and arts coverage. But as newspaper readers and revenues dry up, can they really afford to marginalise the large arts-loving audience? asks Jason Whittaker.
It’s not that Newsweek is bad — it’s that TIME is better
Ailing newsweekly Newsweek’s biggest problem is that it’s coming second in a two-horse-race with TIME magazine, says Dan McGinn. Both rags would actually be better off with more competitors.
For Sale: Newsweek
Newsweek magazine is on the market. Sure, it’s had “losses in the tens of millions for the last two years”, but 1.5 million subscribers should count for something. Any bidders?
Why the iPad can’t save the magazine industry
Business Insider crunches the numbers on the iPad economy: even if iPads sell beyond all expectations, the return for magazines will just be small change compared to their print revenue.
Lonely Planet lays off website team, promises new roles
The axe has fallen on guide book behemoth Lonely Planet’s entire team of website writers, with eight roles made redundant at the whim of the company’s BBC management team.
MySpace goes into meltdown
Anonymous MySpace employees are flooding TechCrunch with tales of how the once-cool company is crumbling: “idiots are running the company into the ground” says one disgruntled staffer.
Dear journalists: stop working for free
Journalists are just speeding up their own demise by doing unpaid or underpaid work, says media veteran Alan Mutter in a call-out for all writers to stop working for free.
Who will survive the great NYT blog cull?
The New York Times is planning to prune back some of its 70+ blogs from its site in an effort to save some cash. Which will be voted off the island? The crossword blog? The ice hockey blog? Or the old person blog?
The axe drops at the Associated Press
Heads have begun to roll at US-based newswire service the Associated Press, as the agency attempts to cut its costs by 10%.
National newspapers fall off a cliff, bury news
Australian newspaper buyers have punished the national papers, The Australian Financial Review and The Australian in the latest audit period, but basically spared the rod on their state-based competitors.
leaked 
The axe is about to fall at Newsweek
Politico has its hands on an internal memo from Newsweek editor, Jon Meacham, informing staff that about a dozen job are about to be cut.
Why you should never piss-off a sub-editor
Newspaper The Toronto Star recently announced it would be outsourcing some of its sub-editing work. So the paper’s disgruntled subbies have taken a red pen to the publisher’s internal memo announcing the move, proving exactly why they’re needed.
The Time Inc. carnage begins
Forced to cut $100m in expenditure, publisher Time has begun trimming the fat, announcing layoffs at Sports Illustrated and the closure of Fortune Small Business. And this is just round one: 280 layoffs are expected in total.
The last days of Gourmet
The former associate art director of the now-defunct Gourmet magazine has put up this online photo gallery to document the final days in the publication’s now-empty offices. How thoroughly depressing.
Why a Tory victory is just what Rupert wants
If the Conservative Party gain power in the UK, they will “rip up” the BBC’s royal charter, deregulating the TV industry to improve the market for commercial operators, according to the party’s shadow culture secretary.
Will Wired survive the Condé carnage?
Gawker assesses the shaky future of tech-bible Wired. Faced with sinking ad sales, major staff cuts and losses, and at the mercy of an ailing publisher, how much longer can the mag and its website cling on?
Cost-cutting carnage at Condé Nast: four mags to fold
Publisher Condé Nast (GQ, Vogue, Vanity Fair) is trimming the fat of bloated magazine empire, and the first victims are Cookie, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and, most notably, foodie bible Gourmet. The latter’s closure has been labeled “an American tragedy”. But is this really the end?
Great moments in journalism: America’s Next Top Pundit
The Washington Post is running a contest to find “America’s Next Great Pundit”. Contestants will face-off in a series of challenges, judged by Post staff, and readers will vote on who wins a coveted byline with the paper. No matter who wins, journalism is the loser.
Conde Nast tightens its (hand-made, designer, anaconda leather) belt
Publisher Conde Nast (GQ, Vogue, Vanity Fair) is well known for its culture of extravagance and indulgence — but even Anna Wintour isn’t immune to the media downturn, and the time has come to cut some costs. Can Conde keep the class without chauffeurs and caviar?
Content isn’t king, growth isn’t always good: busting the media’s big myths
Newsflash, media moguls: your problems started well before the internet, say the authors of new book The Curse of the Mogul. A look at four big misconceptions that have been hurting the media industry far longer than the web.
