According to Capital New York, SpinMedia has laid off 19 staffers and has decided to fold Vibe magazine (just the print version).
Stephen Blackwell, SpinMedia’s CEO, said the cuts came mostly from the company’s video, photo, and sales divisions. On Monday, the company let go of Tom Morrissy, its chief revenue officer, after only five months.
The decision to fold Vibe comes almost exactly one year after SpinMedia’s previous CEO — Steve Hansen — announced he was resurrecting the title by printing four issues per year.
Blackwell said vibe.com will continue as a digital-only publication. ”When I look at what was going on here prior to my tenure, I think that some of the resources… if we’re directing resources toward print, that intrinsically means that we’re directing resources away from digital,” he told Capital New York. “I’m here to commit to directing all of our resources toward the digital side of Vibe.”
Vibe was founded by Quincy Jones in 1993.
My two-cents: Vibe has been such a staple so you hate to see it go, but having a digital presence is not small feat and it’s something that be just as powerful.
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