Talk Magazine runs out of words

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Although it had been rumored that Talk magazine would fold at the end of

March, the 28-month periodical with $50 million in losses ended abruptly Friday afternoon with a terse statement.

"Talk Media has suspended publication of Talk Magazine, effective with its

February issue currently on newsstands, it was announced today by Talk

Chairman Tina Brown and President Ron Galotti," AdAge.com reported.

Staffmembers said that Brown and Galotti were tearful when they delivered

the bad news. All of the magazine's employees, approximately 100, were

terminated with two months severance. However, some writers will be paid to

the end of their contracts.

"Unfortunately, we simply had to be realistic about the fact that 2001 and

2002 to date represent the worst period in memory for general interest

magazines," Brown said. "We're so sorry."

According to staffmembers, Brown said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had

led to an advertising shortfall.

Brown delivered the news of the magazine's closing to her staff at around 5

p.m. in Talk Media's Chelsea offices in New York City. Also there

were Galotti and Cathie Black, the chief executive of Hearst Magazines, and

Miramax executive vice president Charles Layton. Harvey Weinstein, the

co-chairman of Miramax Films, was not at the meeting.

Brown, the former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, launched the

magazine in September of 1999 with a lavish celebrity-filled party on Liberty

Island, with financing from Miramax, a unit of the Walt Disney Company, and

the Hearst Corporation.

According to Adage.com, the most reliable and knowledgeable estimates on

the ventures' total losses hovered around $50 million.

There was strong ad response to its first four issues -- which were sold as

a package -- and circulation was about 650,000. It was reported that the magazine was searching for another investor.

"I am always interested in a partner who can bring power to the company,"

Weinstein, said last year. "Not money, but someone who can take us from

600,000 (circulation) to 1 million."

Talk Miramax Books, which is solely owned by Miramax Films, will not close.

It is scheduled to publish two books by former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and

former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. Tina Brown will remain at the helm of that company.

(Reporting by Alex Cukan)