'Paper Magazine' Lays Off Entire Editorial Staff
The iconic American fashion and pop culture publication has ceased editorial operations.
Paper Magazine, the iconic American fashion and pop culture publication founded by Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits in 1984, laid off its full editorial team on Wednesday.
The layoffs will affect between 20 to 30 full-time employees at the company, including writers, editors and editorial director Mickey Boardman, beginning April 28, according to Adweek. The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Justin Moran, will remain at the company for another month to publish the magazine’s remaining projects.
Per Adweek‘s report, publisher Tom Florio is looking to cut costs in the face of declining ad revenue. The alternatives include selling the company to a potential investor who has expressed interest, according to sources.
The revered magazine, which started as a downtown New York arts and style publication, has blossomed into a pop-cultural hub for music, fashion and entertainment over its decades-spanning existence. Paper is known for creating viral internet moments. Most notably, the magazine’s 2014 “Break the Internet” cover, which fronted Kim Kardashian, raked in almost 16 million page views in one week, per The Wall Street Journal. The magazine’s latest cover, published earlier this month, featured the “In Ha Mood” sensation, Ice Spice.
Paper is the latest publication to announce layoffs, following Buzzfeed, ESPN and Vox Media. As advertising agencies increasingly look to spend their dollars on social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, many publications face advertising downturns and, in turn, budget cuts.
It is not presently known whether the publication will continue to operate in the future.
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