The Economist Lays Off 12 Employees

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The Economist Group, whose flagship title was recently named Advertising Age's Magazine of the Year, has laid off about a dozen employees in North America.

Some of the cuts were the result of redundancies created when Andrew Rashbass, who became CEO in July, decided to reorganize the company, according to a spokesman who confirmed word of the layoffs.

Some were the result of the same thing that has induced big layoffs from Time Inc. to Hearst Magazines to Conde Nast: the sharp economic downturn and bleak outlook for 2009.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Ms Fu]

Am I the only one afraid that the financial crisis will cause the folding of some of the best periodicals available? I mean, as a freelance writer, strapped magazines is bad for me, but the really frightening issue is that we may lose some of the best magazines and newspapers out there; the Economist and the New Yorker to name a few.

[Takae]

I can assure you that the Economist won't be folded. Not for a long time, anyway. Those with smaller circulations? It's 50/50.

[kissmygrits]

Maybe they shouldn't have put "Sarah Palin, Feminist Icon" on the cover of their magazine in September... geez, talk about NOT prescient... I'm sure I wasn't the only one who cancelled her subscription.

[SlithyTove]

There's an old saw that goes something like, "a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged."

I wonder what happens to a conservative journalist who loses his job...say in favor of a more talented and much cheaper guy in New Delhi.

[ladyrefined2000]

i am laughing my a@ss off

[swift goat pet for truth]

A liberal is a conservative that got ripped off by Wall Street.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

Just means that The Economist is 'at a crossroads'. Homer Simpson knew long ago.

[majorteddy]

They should lay them all off. It's a crappy magazine.

[swift goat pet for truth]

Your opinion.

My opinion, it is the best news magazine I have seen.
Yes, it has a definite conservative tilt, but everyone knows that.
The news articles are thoughtful, comprehensive and wide ranging.

And their economic analyses have some points to them, even though they are generally wrong.

Full disclosure, I subscribe.

[unbozo]

Good times! Good times!

[therealtruthteller]

it is by far the best magazine in the world, i read it religiously every week, and i just hope the lay offs do not hurt their excellent coverage.

[Paralogos]

It *used* to be the best news magazine in the English-speaking world. Maybe it still is, by default, but their editorial standards went to hell in the 1990s. I'm sure the laid-off staff feel privileged to be a part of capitalism in action.

[PSM42]

The Economist is informative, but its editorials and the slant of its reporting is egregiously pro- Neocon / New World Order / western / militarist / Milton Freedman's failed policies / imperialist / colonialist / white man's burden. They have never heard of a Neocon policy that they didn't adore.

They have no idea of a multilateral, multi-polar, multi-ethnic, socially conscious or in any way progressive world view. Nor of anything not jingoistically pro-western. I suspect that because it is British, it may be unique in combining a s o c i o p a t h i c corporate world view with the worst snobbery and pretensions of the British class system.

Read it for the facts if you must, but be warned that if you have a heart you will grit your teeth every time your pick it up.

Other than that it is great. :-).

It is a good source of information, and of early mention of issues or developments that become mainstream months or years later. I am keeping my subscription until somebody remedies these defects with a competitor. When they do, the Economist will quickly join the Neocons in the dustbin of history.

[PSM42]

Noam Chomsky says that the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal are the most accurate sources of information, because those running businesses have to have a fairly accurate view of the world. Unlike the view of those who rely on the MSM. Also, he says, the FT does that without the ridiculous editorials of the WSJ, so the FT is just 100% accurate reporting.

The FT does not have the egregiously pro Neocon slant of The Economist.

[Donnat]

He probably said that before Murdoch took over the WSJ.

[JohnPone]

i guess trickle down advertising isn't an option?

[munki]

OOOoooooo....
perhaps we should go back to the fundamental basics...
Jungle...

[TrooAmerican]

Breaking NEWS!
Economist Magazine Hit by Surprise Bad Economy!!

Actually seriously, this is in line with my observations of Economists over the years being wrong on the market conditions, job numbers, gdp, consumer spending, rate changes, etc.

[ATLiberal]

Satire perhaps? Or have you ever read The Economist? It's actually the best political magazine there is. Goes into MUCH more depth than anything produced in the US.

[PSM42]

Given that its field is business and its title The Economist, its political stance might be expected to be ... pro business. But hardly r a b i d l y pro Neocon, which it is. Apparently it fails to see the h o s t - p a r a s i t e problem. If the p a r a s i t e k i l l s the host, both d i e.

[PSM42]

contd. As demonstrated in history's very recent judgement on Milton Friedman's theories in the ongoing financial crisis. Not to mention those of the Chilean people under P i n o c h e t. Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine supplies chapter and verse.

[PSM42]

contd. As demonstrated in history's very recent judgement on Milton Friedman's theories in the ongoing financial crisis. Naomi Klein's The S h o c k Doctrine supplies chapter and verse.

[PSM42]

contd
As demonstrated in history's very recent judgement on Milton Friedman's theories in the ongoing financial crisis.

[PSM42]

As demonstrated in history's very recent judgement on MF's theories in the ongoing financial crisis. Plus Chile and Argentina - Klein's The Shock Doctrine supplies chapter and verse.

[canucklivinginUSA]

Give me an f'ing break here. The Economist is one of the best magazines that I have been on top of things for so long. Add to that BusinessWeek, that had foreseen all the problems we are in today, but nobody wanted to believe

[PSM42]

Not if you can't recognise its toxic Neocon bias.

[TrooAmerican]

Aaaahh.

I wonder if the "Economist" predicted awhile ago, a forecast where they would lay off employees, based on prior economic data and market condtions?
lol

[swift goat pet for truth]

Bummer. I just subscribed.

Sarah Palin recommended it.

[manndan]

Sure. Tell me another.