At 2 p.m. today we ship the possibly final issue of Editor & Publisher from our office here at Astor Place in NYC. For the record, it is the January 2010 issue, so we made it into our 126th year, at least.
As many may know, we got our inexplicable closing notice from the Nielsen Co. on December 10, which was met by outrage, thousands of supportive messages and even an unlikely place on the Twitter trending list. Staffers decided to stay on to finish that issue and keep our Web site going until the end of the year in hopes of encouraging outside help and bids for a takeover.
Indeed, there has been a lot of interest but no firm news to report as yet. We are scheduled to vacate and shut down for good by the end of Thursday if nothing materializes, though of course E&P could always be brought back a bit later. Stay tuned, contact me here about anything you can do, and thanks again for your backing and kinds words.
Meanwhile, I've been busying myself with my new Web video series, "An Incompleat History of Rock 'n Roll," check it out here.
Here's a letter I got just a few days ago from the legendary war reporter and co-author of We Were Soldier Once..and Young, Joe Galloway:
Have been disconsolate ever since i heard they were closing the doors on E&P. am praying for a Christmas miracle that will keep those doors open.
E&P has been one of the very few bright spots in a very gloomy period in the newspaper bidness. Under the leadership of you two gents E&P has broken a lot of new ground and kicked a lot of asses and done a lot of good in recent years.
Last month I marked 50 years in this business. Damn glad I did it when I did. I've been a loyal reader most of those years, from those early days when I scanned the Jobs columns looking for some way out of Texas to these days when Joe Strupp was breaking stories all over the place and Greg Mitchell was pointing fingers in all the right directions.
So if all that is done and over I am sad. If you make it through the night and keep on keeping on, I will be cheering. Either way, damn fine job by all of you.
You might get a kick out of this excerpt from an E&P editorial: "I have actually heard it rumored that some people do not believe all they read in the newspapers! This indicates an awakening which, while it bodes ill for the old-fogy editor, augurs well for honest journalism."
The date was April, 1892.