When you’re reporting on the Cincinnati Enquirer cutbacks, you know it’s been a slow day in the media. But that doesn’t mean it’s been a wholly deathless day. Does this foreshadow a media resurrection in 2009? Er, let’s just check back next year before making any regrettable predictions. Meanwhile, Gawkers exit and newspapers cut budgets, after the jump.
• According to the Media Is Dying Twitter, subscribers to the now-defunct Radar magazine can finish their subscriptions with a choice of Star, Men’s Fitness, or Shape, neatly replacing the Radar reader’s helping of cultural commentary with gossip and health tips. [Media Is Dying/Twitter]
• Seven children’s-book companies are merging under an umbrella imprint to be known as Macmillan Children’s Group, effective January 1. The conglomerate will be overseen by Dan Farley, current publisher for Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, one of the companies merging into Macmillan. [School Library Journal]
• More local papers are cutting back: Today, the Cincinnati Enquirer announced that it’s curtailing the number of days it runs classifieds, creating a narrower page, and condensing sections. [Business Courier of Cincinnati]
• Gawker’s Sheila McClear — full disclosure: She once wrote something about me with the word “adorable” in it somewhere, so we’ll miss her! — gives a heartfelt good-bye, calling Gawker a “Dadaist experiment.” Plus, she got a boyfriend out of the gig. [Ed. Note: It’s not just Vilensky that will miss your wry brilliance, Sheila!] [Gawker]
