As Gawker noted the other day, the newly-dismissed staff of Radar is throwing a Halloween bash tonight to "celebrate" the demise of their magazine. A lot of people in this town can probably use a drink tonight.
On Friday, Media Mob’s John Koblin broke the news that Radar would be closing. Later that day, he spoke to founder and editor Maer Roshan, who said, "Up until today I thought we could still talk about options for the magazine—in fact, there were no options." Over Stella Artois beers, the staff packed up and left their offices by 3 p.m.
That same day, Felix Gillette brought news that ABC News would be slashing its budget by canceling its holiday parties, print subscriptions, and insisting executives stay in ‘B’ hotels. Also closing, 02138, the Harvard-centric lifestyle magazine recently bought by Manhattan Media.
On Monday, the Tribune Company cut The Los Angeles Times‘ staff yet again, eliminating 10 percent of the newsroom.
Tuesday brought news that Double Day was cutting 16 jobs. Media Mob’s Leon Neyfakh noted that among those let go were Janet Silver, Tina Pohlman, Gretchen Koss, and Jennifer Josephy.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Time, Inc. would be eliminating 600 jobs, dramatically changing its news operations.
Today, John Koblin reported that Condé Nast would be cutting budgets for all magazines. Men’s Vogue took the biggest hit, being absorbed into Vogue and cutting back its run to two issues a year. Porfolio also got knocked, cutting back its run to 10 issues a year and reducing its staff by 20 percent.
This week was one long trick (think razor blades in your apple and a flaming bag of pinkslips in your inbox) with very few treats in sight.
