• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer, February 16, 2017

And another one bites the dust: Forbes Media is joining the growing list of publishers who don’t have, well, publishers. The business media company is dropping the title of publisher for its flagship magazine, in a move that emphasizes the company’s cross-platform capabilities and the multimedia nature of advertising sales in the digital era.

The magazine’s former publisher, Rich Karlgaard, will remain with the company but take on a new role as “editor at large,” according to the New York Post, which first reported the news. A number of other personnel changes are also taking place as part of the shakeup per the Post, including the departure of chief technology officer Mike Dugan.

As noted, Forbes is just the latest legacy magazine media company to nix the publisher title.

Last month Condé Nast, high-end publisher of tony titles like Vogue and Vanity Fair, ditched the title in favor of two new roles: “chief business officer,” akin to group publishers with responsibility for multiple magazine brands; and chief industry officer, focused on specific client advertising categories.

Last summer Time Inc. eliminated the role from its corporate organization as part of a broader consolidation of its sales and marketing teams. Time Inc.’s new sales structure has executives overseeing groups organized around advertising categories, brands or digital sales, similar to the one subsequently implemented by Condé Nast.

Also last year, Hearst eliminated the traditional position at Elle Décor in addition to several other magazines, joining Veranda and House Beautiful, which had both scrapped the publisher spot several years prior.