According to a source within the Auckland-headquartered ACP Media, ACP Media is about to shutter some, if not all, of its websites, starting with Runway Reporter. The company's other websites include Cleo, Metro and Taste. Eight staff are said to have been made redundant. Launched by NZ fashion writer Stacey Gregg in 2006, Runway Reporter was acquired by ACP Media later that year and has since evolved into one of the region's more high profile fashion sites. Frockwriter has sought comment from both ACP Media and ACP Magazines in Sydney, with as yet no response.[Isaac Likes]
UPDATE 10/12/08: ACP MEDIA DENIES WEBSITES ARE SHUTTING, BUT CONFIRMS CONSULTATIONS WITH STAFF.
UPDATE 12/12/08: RUNWAY REPORTER SHUTDOWN BLOGGER VINDICATED, FIRED - AFTER BEING RETRENCHED.
6 comments:
Eight staff? Wow.
Those media companies should really reconsider their strategies. They should grow and focus on their online presence more than anything else.
Bad move. Bad, bad move.
That's the incredible irony of this current media debacle. Mainstream media operators are slashing budgets and staff and undermining the credibility of their own brands, while online independents are rising to the fore.
And the online independents are doing it for a fraction of the cost - if in fact any cost at all, beyond their own time.
Oh my god i cant believe it.. I love Runway Reporter! Is this news official? oh no :(
the site was great for the first 2 months - then it got repetitive the drive of getting as many hits as possible was laid on thick - then ACP acquired it and the bulk of the content coming from the few people who are having to create a magazine also - If only independents had their budgets without the bureaucracy and top heavy structures.
seriously... they have 8 paid staff and update less regularly and have less new, good content than the average teenager's fashion blog... no wonder they're closing...
I think it should be made clear that the eight staff that have been made redundant are not all from Runway Reporter, they are from across all the ACP websites. So eight from Runway, Cleo, Home & Garden, Metro. Hell would have frozen over before ACP would have let eight people work on Runway Reporter.
This is a huge loss for the NZ fashion industry, regardless of whether it was "repetitive" or not. This proves that mainstream media still are yet to truly understand that the future is in online.
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