Paper Magazine has reportedly laid off its entire staff in an effort to keep the company economically afloat and to avoid total closure.
According to an AdWeek report, Friday will be the last day for Paper Magazine’s editorial team, as the company laid off between 20 to 30 of its full-time staff members. All editorial operations have been halted, though Paper Magazine’s editor-in-chief will apparently stay on through May. Representatives for Paper Magazine have not responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Staffers like news editor Jade Gomez began announcing the news themselves on Twitter Wednesday, writing, “The cat is out of the bag. Our entire staff was laid off.”
Publisher Tom Florio broke news of the layoffs to staff earlier Wednesday, sharing that the publication’s decline in advertising was the catalyst for the decision. Previously of Vogue, Teen Vogue, Bon Appétit and Condé Nast Traveler, the publisher most recently follows in the steps of media layoffs at and shutterings like those seen at BuzzFeed News.
Per AdWeek, “the publisher generated 1.3 million page views, on average, in the first three months of the year, according to data from SimilarWeb, with 43% of traffic coming from organic search, followed by direct at 32% and social at 17%.”
Paper has been a mainstay independent, New York City-based magazine since 1984, but grew in popularity after going viral and “breaking the internet” with its 2014 photoshoot with Kim Kardashian. Since then, the magazine has been a centerpiece for pop culture, nightlife society and long-form celebrity features.
Paper Magazine was founded in 1984 by Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits.
