In a time of great change in the publishing world, the practice of downsizing and merging editorial teams is no longer rare. It has now infiltrated the world’s biggest publishing houses – including most recently Hearst. The American giant is set to merge the beauty, fashion, and entertainment departments at five magazines from January. These will include Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Redbook, Woman’s Day and Good Housekeeping.
Reports Fashionista, Hearst earlier signalled that this move was likely: “In September, Condé Nast brought in strategic advisory firm MediaLink for guidance on restructuring the company, and in October, chief executive Bob Sauerberg announced plans to share company resources across the fields of copy/research teams, editorial, creative, business and technology.”
Hearst’s decision to reduce and merge its magazine editorial follows fellow companies Condé Nast and Time Inc., who both introduced the structure to their editorial teams this year.