Far Eastern Economic Review switches to monthly opinion magazine
Far Eastern Economic Review switches to monthly opinion magazine
Associated Press Hong Kong
The Far Eastern Economic Review will change its format from a news weekly to a monthly opinion journal in December, effectively marking the end of the region's leading English-language news magazine, its publisher said on Thursday.
Announcing the decision, Dow Jones & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter R. Kann said the news weekly was no longer a profitable business model in Asia and that the Hong Kong-based Review has been in the red for the past six years.
"We see no likelihood of a turnaround on the current economic model," Kann said in an internal memo to Dow Jones staffers obtained by The Associated Press.
Dow Jones Vice President Paul Steiger said the proliferation of daily news outlets has siphoned off too much advertising revenue from the Review.
The Review's new format, which will debut in December, will feature opinions written by academics, business and political leaders in Asia.
Kann said the Review will also downsize its staff, laying off 80 people, while the saved resources will be used to beef up The Asian Wall Street Journal, another Dow Jones publication.
Steiger said he expects the Journal to fill the void of in- depth reporting left by the Review's format change.
The new Review will have a smaller circulation than the current 90,400 because it will mainly be subscription-based, he said.
The last issue of the Review in its current format is dated Nov. 4. and hit newsstands on Thursday.
The Review was founded in 1946 in Hong Kong by Austrian immigrant Eric Halpern with a mission "to analyze and interpret financial, commercial and industrial developments; collect economic news; and to present views and opinions with the intent to improve existing conditions."
It has since grown into one of the most respected sources of English-language coverage of Asia.
Dow Jones has named Hugo Restall, the former editorial page editor of The Asian Wall Street Journal, as the new Review's editor.