Today was a no good, very bad day all around. Condé Nast and WP took pretty heavy hits, and Hearst may lose another major publication within weeks. Here we go …
• Condé Nast is doing worse than anticipated: Ad pages are down by as much as 60 percent at some of the publisher’s titles. A former staffer said, “They should have cut back 20 percent when they cut back five.” [Media Ink/NYP]
• Profits at the Washington Post are down 77 percent. [NYT]
• The San Francisco Chronicle may have only weeks to live. With rapidly declining sales, Hearst may be forced to sell or close the paper. [HuffPo]
• Reader’s Digest is leaving D.C. [Politico]
• Rumors that Murdoch may try to buy both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times continue to circulate. This would be more of an outrage if newspapers didn’t need that kind of help so desperately. [Variety via HuffPo]
