US News admitted that the advertising climate and competition from Time and Newsweek was too tough, so after decades as a weekly, it said a while back that it would publish 26 times in 2009. That is a lot of savings in printing and postage. The publication probably let a few people go.

But the magazine never made it to its new publishing frequency. Things are so bad in print advertising that now it says it will go monthly. According to The New York Times "Just five months after saying it would drop its frequency to every other week, U.S. News & World Report has decided instead to become a monthly magazine."

The magazine, which was founded in 1948, might as well fold. Putting out a news publication once a month when the internet allows people to get news minute-by-minute is not a smart idea. There is a good chance the magazine will not be around at the end of next year.

Over the last week, large magazine publishers like Rodale, Time, Inc., and Conde Nast have put a total of over 1,000 people out of work. The magazine industry is beginning to look like the newspaper sector. That means it is trapped without a way out.

As magazine publishers focus more on the internet, they confront competition like Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) News and CNN. Even on the web, publishing is too crowded for everyone to make it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247WallSt.com.

As US News goes monthly, magazines must face their fate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.