Dow Jones shuts down Smart Money magazine

smartmoney.jpgThe financial advice publication owned by Dow Jones will live on in digital form, but closing up the print operation will result in a net loss of 19 jobs (several new positions are being created on the website). Smart Money, which had a circulation of around 800,000, focused on baby boomer executive types. More bad news: Barron's, which also is owned by Dow Jones, eliminated a number of jobs this week, reports Forbes media writer Jeff Bercovici. It's not surprising to see cuts in the financial advice sector - the Internet is flooded with investment information, and even though a lot of it is inaccurate, misleading or fraudulent, it's mostly free. People like free. Here's more from Bercovici on Smart Money:

Two years ago, the News Corp. division doubled down on SmartMoney, buying out the 50% stake held by Hearst Magazines. Dow Jones president Todd Larsen explained the move by saying it allowed for greater integration of SmartMoney with The Wall Street Journal. But Larsen is out as of this week, apparently displaced by the arrival of new CEO Lex Fenwick. And SmartMoney is in worse financial shape than it was in 2010. In the first quarter of this year, its ad pages decreased 23.4%, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
Recent Magazines stories:
Maria Elena Durazo profile names a key name *
13 things we didn't know about Kai Ryssdal of 'Marketplace'
Rick Caruso had commercials cut for mayor race
Ex-Marine sniper recalls seduction by OC serial killer
Los Angeles Magazine fetes Roz Wyman

New at LA Observed
On the Media Page
Go to Media

On the Politics Page
Go to Politics
Arts and culture

Sign up for daily email from LA Observed

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Advertisement
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
LA Observed on Twitter and Facebook