Commentary

Tech Title Terminated

Underscoring the tough times for magazine publishing, business and technology publication Business 2.0 will shutter after the October issue. The move seems counterintuitive given its more than 600,000 subscribers and the current tech boom.

Rumors began circulating last year that Time Inc. might close Business 2.0, but demonstrations of support from loyal readers, including the creation of a Facebook group, raised hopes that the publication would earn a reprieve.

However, reader support couldn’t make up for the steep decline in ad pages, which tumbled 34 percent in the first half of 2007 compared to the first of 2006, ending at 242, according to the Publisher’s Information Bureau.

Business 2.0 Editor Josh Quittner wrote in a blog post last month that Time Inc. execs chose not to sell the title to other business publishers, including Mansueto Ventures, publisher of Fast Company and Inc. He speculated Time Inc. didn’t want to create more competition for its current stable of beleaguered business titles, Fortune, Money, and Fortune Small Business.

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