Emily Fox | Painful times to be in print

Send your condolences to loyal magazine readers.

This October, publication corporations laid some of our favorite and most famous publications to rest and significantly cut back on the shelf lives of those magazines that have managed to survive. Magazine publishers have lifted their dark veils to lay off workers, cut the number of issues put out or close shop completely.

Anguished readers are left wondering why - what caused their favorite magazine to fold - and what will it mean for print publications?

Last week, publishing conglomerate Conde Nast announced that business magazine Portfolio would lay off editors, writers and web developers and reduce its frequency to 10 times per year. The company announced that Men's Vogue would also shut its doors - and shut out all of its employers in the process. Conde Nast's last stand isn't confined to a couple publications; the company will cut its entire budget by 5 percent.

October also saw the death of popular magazines Radar, 02138 and Culture & Travel. Time Inc. cut 600 jobs, Hearst Magazines called off its annual holiday party and American Express Publishing will cut 5 percent of its workforce. The iconic Village Voice is feeling the pinch, too, creating a dizzying panic for hipsters everywhere.

And where will troubled and trendy young girls turn now that their holy tween bible, CosmoGirl, folded earlier this month?

Even legendary college newspapers like The Daily Orange of Syracuse and UC Berkeley's The Daily Californian are cutting their production in order to cut costs.

While readers mourn the losses of their dearly beloved magazines, publishers claim that they have no choice as the economy tightens. As the financial sector plummets, consumers are spending less money and businesses are receiving less money. Companies with thinner wallets find it hard to justify advertising to consumers who don't have the money to spend on their products - a waste of money that businesses just don't have.

And magazines bear the brunt of this pinch.

In fact, the Publishers' Information Bureau reported that advertisement revenue declined by 8.8 percent since the third quarter of this year.

College freshman Samantha Perelman grieves the loss of print publications and the casualties suffered in the process.

"Magazines influence society in everything from fashion, sex, food and architecture," she said. "Without such publications, people will be forced to rely more on the Internet and independent bloggers to get this kind of information . allowing themselves to be influenced by people that we shouldn't necessarily trust with such a responsibility."

Chalk another loss up to the economy, right?

Well, maybe not.

Sure, the economy played a role in this crisis.

Companies couldn't afford to buy ads, and so some magazines failed as a result of our current recession. But whether or not the stock market plummeted, magazines were out to meet their maker.

Their death was inevitable. The economic meltdown just sped it up.

As Internet news and blogs rose in popularity, magazine sales fell. Why pay for a subscription or shell out $4.50 for the latest Newsweek or Vogue if you can read the article online for free and from the comfort of your own computer screen?

Yes, my dad and a few others, creatures of habit and products of a different generation, still prefer to hold their news in their hands.

But the majority of college students get their everyday news and entertainment online.

The death of print media has been a long time coming - long before we heard the swan songs of Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns, before the government bailed out these flailing financial institutions and before consumers saw that irresponsible spending really does bite you in the butt.

Blame the economic failure for a lot of things, but the recession isn't guilty for the murdering of the magazine industry. Fault the Internet for that.

Emily Fox is a College sophomore from Merion, Pa. Her e-mail is fox@dailypennsylvanian.com. Seen and Heard appears on alternating Fridays.

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