In today’s mail was a sort of ultimate confirmation of another death in the publishing world: a simple, black-and-while postcard from Conde Nast Portfolio that began: “Dear Subscriber, With regret, we have decided that we will no longer be publishing Conde Nast Portfolio … .”
It was old news. The New York Times and other outlets had reported in late April that Portfolio was folding –- unable to earn enough even after it had cut the number of issues from 12 to 10 a year and taken other steps to shed expenses.
Old news but sad nonetheless. We’ve lost a smart, substantive and beautifully designed business magazine that certainly had its critics, but I admired the staff’s work and was glad to see a mountain of talent focused on the private sector, which gave us the recession that in turn has poisoned many giants in the publishing industry.
The postcard explained that subscribers would be getting Wired instead. Great, I thought. I already subscribe to Wired. In that case, the postcard explained, Portfolio will add the copies due to the Wired subscription.
Small consolation, but I can’t complain. I’ve lost only a few dollars. S.I. Newhouse is looking at the crumbs left from a $100 million investment. And business coverage has shriveled further.
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