Raconteur, the free current affairs magazine, is closing nine months after launching due to a lack of advertising revenue.
The last issue of the quarterly magazine, published by content agency Raconteur Media, will come out on Friday.
Press Gazette was told that the magazine’s editor, Peter Guest, has been suspended after emailing staff about the closure.
According to The Drum he wrote: “Apparently print media is dead, and someone only just told the CEO.”
He also called on contributors to claim payment from the company, adding: “If, along with half of the writers in the Western world, you are overdue payment from Raconteur, you can scream and shout to your heart’s content…
“The company survives in its pre-existing form as a pamphleteer for the sub-Davos crowd, and they have no excuse not to pay what they owe.”
Raconteur Magazine launched in March. At the time, Raconteur Media founder Freddie Ossberg was reported as saying: “Now is a good time to launch a freesheet as the model is proving popular with readers.”
Ossberg told Press Gazette the magazine closed for commercial reasons.
He said: “I don’t know if it was just that we didn’t manage to crack it, or whether the market has just drastically changed from just a year or two years ago.
“It’s a tough market right now, which is a shame because the magazine itself is our best work to date and was well-liked by the readers.”
He added: “The print advertising market just dropped off a cliff this year,” and said the company decided it could no longer “chase the dream that isn’t going to become a reality”.
Separate to the magazine, Raconteur Media also provides special investigations for The Times and Sunday Times.
In August the publication changed from monthly to quarterly, affecting five of the six full-time staff on the magazine who Ossberg said were given other roles in the business.
Guest was the only full-time employee at the magazine and is the only person being made redundant as a result of the closure, Press Gazette understands.
Ossberg said Guest was offered other editorial positions within the company but turned them down.
Ossberg said there were no plans to continue the magazine online. When asked about future projects, he said “right now we just have to focus on the two other areas of the business”.
Coach magazine recently announced that it was stopping its free weekly print edition.
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