taking the concept of "less is more" to a whole new level

Things are tough for specialist magazine publishers these days. In the industry in which I work, issues are getting frighteningly thinner month by month, people who've been at various magazines seemingly forever are being laid off, and some titles are transitioning from print-plus-web to web only. These developments are typically accompanied by PR statements desperately trying to put a positive spin on what are obviously far from positive situations.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have for years subscribed to Communication Arts, one of the premier publications serving the design, marketing communication, and advertising industries. It seems that even they are not immune to the woes of print publications, but serving an audience that includes the elite members of the communication industry, you'd image their PR would be a good deal more sophisticated than most.

But you'd be wrong.

Today I received the latest issue, and it was accompanied by a letter to subscribers that began:

Dear CA Subscriber,

Communication Arts is changing its publication frequency, from eight times a year to six times a year, to bring editorial consistency to our product, save natural resources and give our subscribers more of what they want.

Say what? (George Orwell would be so proud.)