The “Chesterfield Monthly,” a product of Local News LLC and Chesterfield Observer, produced its last issue this month.
Editor Scott Bass wrote in the November/December issue that the journalism business is in trouble.
“…we simply couldn’t bring in enough revenue to keep the magazine afloat. Local News LLC, our parent company, has been in the newspaper business – publishing the weekly Chesterfield Observer – since 1995. The Observer has been financially successful for many years. Our foray into the magazine business, however, has been a struggle. The advertising revenue just didn’t keep pace,” Bass wrote in a final editorial.
But magazine journalism or journalism in general is not dead according to “The Economist” magazine. “But among magazines there is a new sense of optimism. In North America, where the recession bit deepest, more new magazines were launched than closed in 2011 for the second year in a row. The Association of Magazine Media (MPA) reports that magazine audiences are growing faster than those for TV or newspapers, especially among the young.”
Chesterfield Monthly was mailed to nearly 65,000 homes.
