Reader's Digest To File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

By Associated Press

NEW YORK - The publisher of Reader's Digest, the country's most popular general interest magazine, said Monday it will seek Chapter 11 protection from creditors amid declining circulation, an industrywide advertising slump and large debts.

Reader's Digest Association Inc. said it has reached an agreement with a majority of secured lenders to restructure its debt. Under the plan, the lenders get ownership of the company and will erase much of the $1.6 billion they have in senior secured notes.

The monthly magazine, founded in 1922 as a collection of condensed articles from other publications, has been searching for a niche as the Internet upends the magazine industry's traditional business models.

This year, it cut the circulation guarantee it makes to advertisers to 5.5 million, from 8 million and lowered its frequency to 10 annual issues from 12.

The magazine was bought by the New York private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings in 2007.

Comments

[Shake-A-Spear]

Anyone here remember one of the radio commedians doing a bit about Readers Digest that was published, in his words, in Stomach, Iowa.
And, incidentally, if there were a polite way to say that Readers Digest makes ideal crapper reading, their circulation might well get a boost. ("ORDER AN ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTION FOR THE OUTHOUSE AT HALF PRICE!")

[Shake-A-Spear]

Readers Digest still appeals to geriatrics. So my advice to their management as our population continues to age is: HANG ON!

[profco]

Reader's Digest has been politically conservative at least since the Cold War.

[MJinCanada]

I glanced at the Canadian issue a couple of months ago and realized the RD staff had totally lost touch. They did this totally inane survey on Canadians that Canadians trust most, but the survey had to have been terribly slanted because Conrad Black made the list. Actually, that was the best part -- I think the survey takers pranked the RD staff. Black made the list as a person that XX% of Canadians would trust with their car for a weekend. Well, DUH! The guy's in jail! Where would he drive somebody's car?

[sonoffestus]

Reader's Digest, that was a children's magazine wasn't it?

[MJinCanada]

No, just written at a grade 5 level to encourage American readers.

[VegasWolf]

No, really to help American Conservatives to follow the story lines.

[squat6971]

I always liked the "I'm Joe's Spleen" articles

[Konnie]

oh shoot, where will i get my chappaquiddick headline fix at the supermarket check out anytime any kennedy does anything..­.........E­unice Shriver passes away - but where was she on the night of chap.....o­h and by the way she started the special olympics..­....

[1dogs2]

It always was a rag for the intellectually challenged who were unable or unwilling to read a whole book. Glad to see they're aiming at an even narrower market.

[lisaman]

Are you referring to their condensed books? I think the article is about the magazine. My husband and I have been reading it for years and I take offense at the suggestion that we are intellectually challenged because of it. My favorite article, that I read every month first is Michael Crowley's That's Outrageous. I also enjoy Everyday Heroes.

If you think the magazine is making a mistake, you are not alone, but to insult the readers who you do not know, says more about you than them.

[totalliberal]

If authors wanted their novels condensed, they would have condensed them themselves. I prefer the "Right Stuff' and many others in their long form. The way they should be read.

[Bettysdad]

WHAT!!

They used to have centerfolds of Joe McCarthy.

[MadHeart]

Good! I still remember my 11th grade English Lit teacher in 1958, Mrs. Tannenbaum, warning us about Readers Digest and I've followed her advice in seeing it as trash ever since.

[ricmarc]

the writer might like to look at the old peoples almanac from the 70's by irving wallace and his son for info on readers digest. the way articles get into readers digest is very interesting, it isn't all previously published edited stories.

readers digest has always been a conservative publication with all articles given a conservative slant. it has always been pro republican.

[farseer]

Those articles with a political slant are conservative. But the vast majority of their articles are non-political. Many of them have social conscience. For example they ran Waris Dirie's autobiographical account of female genital mutilation. Dirie became a leading opponent of fgm. Then ran a very positive story about the soldier who rescued villagers at My Lai, instead of shooting them.

[ArthurTwoShedsJackson]

"The[y] ran a very positive story about the soldier who rescued villagers at My Lai, instead of shooting them."

Wow, RD sure did make a brave stand there huh? (sarcasm)

[verticallychallenged]

They've always been conservative. The magazine changed drastically once they were taken over. My mother still gets the LP version. I used to read RD for the jokes, "used to" being the operative phrase here. Not at all like the magazine of my childhood.

[MadHeart]

Mrs. Tannenbaum, my 11th grade Lit teacher, warned us about RD in 1958 At Miami Tech High.

[mcmutter]

sounds like she was a smart lady

[Bloggerrogr]

I was warned by my Junior year English teacher, Mr. Coats that reading articles from Reader's Digest was like having someone chew your food for you.

Hope you weren't drinking coffee or anything like that...

[AirViceMarshalPark]

It will take 50 years for this rag to vanish from Dentist's and Pediatrician's waiting rooms.

[mcmutter]

my dentist still has magazines from 1976 and they are all stamped "DO NOT REMOVE FROM WAITING ROOM"

[progressivegreg]

You're lucky, you get to read the "more current" ones!

[apoyo]

Glad I canceled my subscription years ago.
I hate being preached to, especially by a rag.

[indy girl]

Especially one written on a 6th grade level.

[cedy]

My father warned me that RD was a right wing rag years ago. I never read the articles, just the jokes.

Good to see it go, never the less.

I don't know anyone anymore that even reads the jokes.

[singermuse]

I grew up with Reader's Digest in the home. We read the magazine and all the condensed books we could. That was then, but now?
A few years ago I realized how very biased and right wing they were and made the decision never to read them again and wrote a letter to them to say so. They're going into bankruptcy? GOOD!

[Rockwell]

Ditto! You saved me some typing.