• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, February 3, 2016

After just three months on the job, Harper’s Magazine editor Christopher Cox has been shown the door at the highbrow title. Not to be confused with the much larger Harper’s Bazaar,Harper’s Magazine President and Publisher John MacArthur fired Cox over “editorial differences,” according to press reports, apparently including a clash over a cover redesign supported by Cox.

MacArthur, whose personal fortune has helped sustain the nonprofit magazine, is said to be firmly committed to the print edition, to the extent of refusing to tamper with its appearance.

And he isn’t shy about exerting direct control over the magazine’s management.

Back in 2010, he abruptly fired editor Rodger Hodge, also because of disagreements about editorial matters. Hodge was replaced by Ellen Rosenbush, who assumed a new role as editor at large and was replaced by Cox in November of last year.

The firing is the latest sign of trouble at the venerable title, which celebrated its 165th birthday last year. Like many other legacy print publications, Harper’s Magazine has struggled to reinvent itself for the digital media age, as print circulation and advertising revenue declines and online growth fails to fill the gaps.

Over the last two years, Harper’s Magazine’s total circulation tumbled 13% from 149,430 in the first half of 2014 to 130,257 in the first half of 2015, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. Taking a longer view, the latter figure is down 43% from 230,159 in the first half of 2004.

It’s been a rough few years for highbrow intellectual mags, with a spate of high-level resignations and closings, typically stemming from disagreements with publishers over strategy. In December 2014, Franklin Foer and Leon Wieseltier walked out at The New Republic, which is now up for sale by owner Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook.

In July of 2015, National Journal, owned by Atlantic Media, announced that it would suspend its print edition after 46 years.