Barry Diller’s IAC Dotdash is ceasing print publication of six titles it acquired last year from Meredith Corp., including one-time industry giants Entertainment Weekly and InStyle. The move is expected to result in approximately 200 job losses.
Entertainment Weekly editor-in-chief Mary Margaret — who was hired just last year to lead the magazine as its first female top editor — is expected to remain and run EW’s digital operations, two individuals with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. Margaret would replace EW digital director Shana Krochmal, who will lose her job, the insiders said.
Another casualty is longtime TV writer and editor at large Lynette Rice, who recently published a bestselling book about “Grey’s Anatomy” called “How to Save a Life.”
A rep for IAC Dotdash didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on Wednesday.
Staffers at all six titles — which also include EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Espanol — were awaiting calls on Wednesday from IAC Dotdash’s human resources team to learn their fate.
In a memo to staff on Wednesday, CEO Neil Vogel laid out the case for shifting some of its top titles to digital-only operations. “We have said from the beginning, buying Meredith was about buying brands, not magazines or websites,” Vogel said. “It is not news to anyone that there has been a pronounced shift in readership and advertising from print to digital, and as a result, for a few important brands, print is no longer serving the brand’s core purpose.”
IAC Dotdash plans to continue print publication of 19 other Meredith magazines, including People, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living — though Vogel said the company would trim sizes and improve paper quality.
Entertainment Weekly, which Time Inc. launched in 1990 and quickly established itself as an influential voice in pop culture, shifted to monthly print publication in July 2019 amid an industry-wide downturn in print advertising and newsstand sales.
Margaret was hired last March as the first woman to hold the editor-in-chief role at Entertainment Weekly. She had previously held positions at Time Inc. and Radar Online, among other publications, working in various editor positions before moving over to Roku to be editorial director, then Facebook to be head of product content strategy for video and gaming. Margaret was hired after the previous top editor, JD Heyman, was ousted in late 2020 after multiple senior staffers filed complaints with the company HR accusing him of creating a hostile workplace by belittling staffers and making “inappropriate” and “racially insensitive” comments.
Last October, IAC Dotdash announced it would acquire the Meredith Meredith Corporation in an all-cash deal valued at $2.7 billion dollars.
Jethro Nededog, a former EW.com editor, contributed to this report.
