Saying Goodbye To <i>E&P</i>

In an article charting the demise of newspaper industry trade pub Editor & Publisher, The Los Angeles Times blames Web sites like mediabistro.com: "Online journalism news aggregators such as Romenesko regularly relied on stories by E&P, linking to them for reporting on a new study or analysis of anything relating to the newspaper industry. But Romenesko and other free sites such as Mediabistro.com also snatched readers and job listings that might have landed in E&P's classified section." Yes, classified revenues have left print behind for the Internet and everybody wants to read content like that of E&P's for free on the Web. But there was nothing stopping its owner Nielsen Co. from selling off the pub to a company that would have kept it alive -- even if only as digital version of itself. We're sad to see another publication (and its Nielsen-owned sister Kirkus Reviews) close its doors in 2009. We'll also miss all the scoops and insightful news about our industry. Too bad Nielsen didn't take WebMediaBrands' offer to buy E&P earlier this year. We would have welcomed them to the family! But as the title heads towards closure at the end of the year, various good-byes are sprinkling out from staffers. After the jump, parting words from senior editor Joe Strupp and former cartoonist Steve Greenberg. Strupp says he's been lucky through his 21 years as a reporter never to have experienced a layoff until now. He's also been lucky during his 11 years at E&P, writing "both news and opinion about the media, and beyond," and meeting big names like Ben Bradlee, Phil Bronstein and Michael Moore. Such is the life of a media reporter: "Through it all, people have always given E&P the respect we always hoped it earned. Known as 'the bible' of the newspaper industry, I believe we still did our best to help cover the newspaper world as it changes and goes through its toughest time ever. Not the death of newspapers, but the transformation as I believe they will live on, perhaps in other forms, but still providing the best news coverage of any medium." Greenberg, who was laid off by the pub last year, gives a short history of E&P and its relationship to the cartooning world. He also tells his own story about being hired to be a weekly cartoonist, then let go three years later when the magazine was redesigned. But although he was laid off by E&P, he sums up the overall reaction to its death pretty succinctly: "America is all-too-quickly heading toward an era quite possibly without daily print newspapers. But it's very sad to see that its leading industry journal -- the watchdogâ€™s watchdog -- is about to be put to sleep." Read more: Editor & Publisher, Kirkus Reviews to be shut --Los Angeles Times Joe Strupp: Goodbye "E&P"? A Wonderful Ride --E&P Editor & Publisher, RIP --The Steve Greenberg Blog Previously: Could E&P Have Been Saved?

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Saying Goodbye To E&P

Amanda Ernst

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Amanda Ernst