Glamour magazine could be the next Condé Nast publication to shut down its print publication.
Sources tell WWD that the 80-year-old magazine might be shifting to an all-digital platform. The rumor started when former editor-in-chief Cindi Leive stepped down last year after working for the publication for 16 years. Succeeding her, Samantha Barry, who previously worked at CNN as executive producer for social and emerging media, was hailed by the publisher as the “first digital native editor” at Condé Nast, causing suspicion that the magazine would transition to a digital-only version.
Barry told The New York Times that she “care[s] about the brand” even emphasizing that the magazine is a huge part of it. Then she added, “Glamour is a brand — it’s not just a magazine.”
Recent data from the MPA-Association of Magazine Media shows that Glamour‘s readership has been declining for quite some time, with print sales and digital subscriptions dropping by 15 percent every year, down to 8.6 million and web readers falling by 17 percent to around 993,000. This should come as no surprise to tFS forum members who have been critical of changes at the magazine this year.
Should Glamour ever convert to a purely digital medium, it will join the ranks of Teen Vogue and Self, two Condé Nast publications that have already ended their print production. A spokesperson at Condé Nast declined to comment on the rumors.
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