Today, publishing companies faced financial troubles, newspaper editors resigned, magazine writers were laid off, and an adorably grumpy online magazine writer intellectualized the ordeal. Onward!
• American Media Inc., the parent company for the National Enquirer, is cutting its costs by firing a gang of ad and marketing staffers, with editorial layoffs expected soon. [Ad Age]
• San Diego magazine has laid off a handful of editorial and art-design staffers, including its executive editor, Ron Donoho, and art director, Laurie Miller. The receptionist at the magazine’s San Fran HQ was pink-slipped, too. [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
• Somehow, magazines like Private Air and Corporate Leader — what they sound like — are still standing. But alas, their readers will now have to receive their big-spending tips only quarterly (and online), as the magazines’ publishing home, Doubledown Media, is facing financial concerns. [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
• USA Today editor Ken Paulson, the sixth editor in the paper’s history, is leaving his job to become president of the Newseum, the museum of newspapers! There’s a metaphor somewhere in there. [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
• “Digital technology” is killing off all the print publications, and all the “self-pitying” laid-off journos are only as sad as “the misery of a sacked bond trader,” says Jack Shafer, working writer for a successful online magazine. [Slate]
• Yesterday it was announced that financial newsweekly The Deal cut 10 percent of its overall workforce. (Disclosure: The Deal is owned by Bruce Wasserstein, who also holds up the roof over our heads.) [Folio]
• Macmillan Publishing has eliminated 64 staffers, 4 percent of the company’s workforce. The company also plans to merge its children’s book imprints into one division. [Publishers Weekly]
