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It's a sad day for business journalism. Conde Nast announced that it is shuttering Portfolio, the glossy monthly business magazine launched two years ago and the accompanying web site, effective immediately.What's so sad about this is that the magazine's failure appears to be a direct result of the soft economy and weak ad spending. For my money, Portfolio was the best business magazine going -- infinitely better than Fortune and Forbes.
The New York Times reports that "Most of the $100 million pledged toward the start-up is gone, sunk into the very expensive printing, paper, marketing and editorial costs that go with creating a magazine, especially one published by Condé Nast. The now-folded magazine may be the last of a breed, an attempt by a Manhattan media company to build a large magazine franchise from the ground up."
Portfolio spent lavishly on one of the most high-profile magazine launches in recent memory, and lured a number of hugely talented financial journalists including Gary Weiss, Michael Lewis and Jesse Eisinger.
It's disappointing that the website is shuttering along with the magazine, but the company's high cost structure apparently doesn't work with just a web site. Hopefully Portfolio's talented staff will land with other shops quickly so that we can continue to benefit from their excellent insight into the financial crisis.
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