News Corp closes Asian magazine

The Far Eastern Economic Review had survived the Asian financial crisis

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is to close its Hong Kong-based magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review.

The closure is the latest blow to a media industry struggling to cope with the downturn in advertising.

News Corp last week published the last edition of its freesheet, the London Paper, and plans to charge for its news content across all its websites.

The 63-year-old Far Eastern Economic Review will publish its last issue in December, the media giant said.

'Unsustainable'

"The decision to cease publication of the Review is a difficult one made after a careful study of the magazine's prospects in a challenging business climate," said Todd Larsen, chief operating officer at Dow Jones Consumer Media Group, the Review's publisher.

"Unfortunately, despite several attempts at invigorating the brand, the Review's continued losses in advertising revenue and readers are now unsustainable."

Dow Jones, which also publishes the Wall Street Journal, was bought by News Corp for over $5bn (£3.1bn) in 2007.

In 2004, Dow Jones switched the format of the magazine to a monthly from a weekly and cut 80 jobs, or 10% of its staff in Asia at the time.

Hugo Restall, the Far Eastern Economic Review editor, will remain a member of the Wall Street Journal's editorial board.

Current subscribers to the Far Eastern Economic Review will be offered a one-year subscription to the Wall Street Journal's online edition.

News Corp also owns pay-TV broadcaster Sky as well as the Times and Sun newspapers in the UK and the New York Post in the US.

Like many others, News Corp has suffered from falling advertising revenues.

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