Posted by chicagomedia.org on April 27, 2009 at 18:50:49:
Portfolio, Portfolio.com closed by Cond� Nast
Portfolio, the upscale business magazine Cond� Nast launched with great fanfare and high hopes only two years ago, announced today it is folding after its May issue and closing its Web site in the year�s second quarter, unable to overcome the very economic pressures faced by the companies and executives it chronicled.
�The pressures and realities of the continuous deep economic slump have lowered Portfolio�s revenue projections below what is needed to continue publication,� Charles H. Townsend, Cond� Nast�s president and chief executive, said in making the announcement. �Portfolio was an ambitious and innovative magazine and website, and we were proud to publish them. The challenges facing this launch however proved too great.�
Townsend praised Joanne Lipman, the magazine�s editor, and William Li, its publisher. �It is unfortunate we were unable to give Portfolio the time needed to fully mature,� Townsend said in his statement.
Portfolio and Portfolio.com were launched in May 2007, publishing 21 issues. The magazine received a National Magazine Award last year.
Its advertising pages were down 60.9 percent in first quarter of this year, compared to the same quarter last year, according to the Publisher�s Information Bureau, although some of that can be attributed to the decision in October to shift from 12 issues a year to 10. The Web staff also was reduced at that time.
Portfolio�s circulation was around 415,000, but it had trouble making inroads against established rivals in the business sector such as BusinessWeek, Fortune and Forbes.
Cond� Nast Publications, a unit of Advance Publications, publishes such other titles as the New Yorker and Vanity Fair, which cover some of the topics that were found in Portfolio, although it wasn�t their primary focus. In the last year or so, Cond� Nast also has shuttered Domino and Golf for Women magazines.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)