Monday, May 13, 2013

Tough Times at the Columbia Journalism Review as an editor departs, others are laid off, and funding looks shaky

From Capital New York:
Tough times at 'Columbia Journalism Review' as an editor departs, others are laid off, and funding looks shaky
In media, there are big fish and little fish. Which is why the appointment of Cyndi Stivers as editor-in-chief of AOL.com didn't create a lot of noise about what would happen to the publication she was leaving, the Columbia Journalism Review, of which she'd served as editor-in-chief for less than two years.

The magazine is an acknowledged authority on the journalism business. Its specialization notwithstanding, it's among the most important reads in the industry. And it's having a rough time right now.

As news of Stivers' hiring at the giant web portal spread within media circles on Thursday, CJR's longtime executive editor, Mike Hoyt, who'd run the editorial side of the magazine for years before Stivers was hired above him in late 2011, was in the process of being laid off, Capital has learned.

And he's not the only one: Justin Peters, CJR's editor-at-large, also was informed yesterday that he and Hoyt would be out of jobs as of the end of June, when Nick Lemann passes the baton to his fellow New Yorker writer Steve Coll as dean of the Columbia Journalism School, which has published CJR since 1961. (Peters did not respond to emails seeking comment.)...MORE
Does this explain the CJR's piece last week: "Columbia Journalism Review Goes Apeshit on Henry Blodget's Business Insider".