Journal's Pains Reflect Media's Malaise

JOURNAL'S PAINS REFLECT MEDIA'S MALAISE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
American Journalism Review, the influential but financially troubled media journal, could face a shutdown by year's end. Tom Kunkel, the review's president, said it is "more likely" that the magazine will be able to continue publishing next year, but that he must close a deficit of roughly $200,000 -- about one-quarter of its annual budget. The bimonthly, launched in 1977 as Washington Journalism Review, has been cutting costs as the economic downturn in print journalism has eroded its advertising base. Longtime editor Rem Rieder essentially became the only editorial employee after the managing editor, Rachel Smolkin, left and was not replaced. Even the design and artwork of the magazine are contracted out. There was a time when AJR, along with Columbia Journalism Review, operated by Columbia University, provided much of the critical examination of an industry not known for self-reflection. But the rise of Web sites and blogs dedicated to critiquing, and in some cases bashing, the media has increasingly overshadowed magazines that publish six times a year, although their carefully reported examinations of media mistakes and trends remain important.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/21/AR200708...
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