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Australia’s oldest weekly news magazine closes

• Posted by animo on January 24th, 2008 filed in Any Topics, Blogosphere, Daily Blog, Pinoy Bloggers, Web 2.0

SYDNEY–Australia’s oldest and best-known weekly news magazine, The Bulletin, will close immediately because of falling circulation as readers turn to the Internet, the owners said Thursday.

This week’s issue which went on sale Wednesday would be the last of the magazine, which was launched in 1880 and became an institution in Australian publishing, said ACP Magazines chief executive Scott Lorson.

The latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures showed
The Bulletin had sales of 57,039 in September last year, well down on circulation highs of over 100,000 in the mid-1990s, Lorson said in a statement.

“This trend is consistent with that experienced by many leading weekly news and current affairs magazines globally and is somewhat symptomatic of the impact of the Internet on this particular genre,” Lorson said.

“This is a sad day for all of us at ACP Magazines.

“The Bulletin has been an institution in Australian publishing and has provided its loyal readers with the best quality, in-depth news and current affairs analysis in the country.

“(It) has often set the political agenda, broken many important stories and won many awards for journalism over the years.”

ACP Magazines is Australia’s biggest magazine publisher, publishing more than 85 titles in Australia and abroad, including The Australian Womens Weekly, Womans Day, Dolly, Cleo and Cosmopolitan.

The company is the magazine arm of leading Australian media and entertainment company, PBL Media.

Lorson said the magazine had not been viable for some time, despite heavy investment in the title with top editorial, photographic and design staff.

ACP Magazines publishing spokesman Phil Scott said The Bulletin’s editor-in-chief, John Lehmann, had done an outstanding job since joining the magazine in mid-2006.

“John and his staff have maintained The Bulletin’s commitment to quality journalism and tackling the tough issues,” he said.