Monday, January 26, 2015

Modern Farmer paid staff walks out, leaving future of quarterly magazine up in the air

The future of Modern Farmer—a magazine that has never been geared toward your everyday farmer—could be in doubt, after its remaining paid editors walked out on Friday, Kim Severson reports for The New York Times. Despite more than 1 million unique page views per month and support from big-name advertisers, the fate of the quarterly with a circulation of 100,000 had been in question for months.

In December, founder Ann Marie Gardner left, and the spring issue was canceled, Severson writes. "Gardner remains in a dispute with Frank Giustra, a hard-nosed Canadian financier who owns a majority of the company. But after the remaining editorial staff members departed Friday, Giustra’s public relations firm said in an emailed statement that plans for a summer edition were underway, and any replacement hires 'will continue to reflect the high standards of reporting that Modern Farmer has had in the past.'” Currently the editorial content is in the hands of two interns whose tenure ends Feb. 1. (Read more)

No comments: