According to Capital New York, VIBE magazine has laid off workers and will no longer be a print publication anymore. 19 people were let go in midst of the ‘reduction in force.’
The decision affected about 14% of the company’s 127 staff members. Spin Media bought the brand last year in 2013 and initially made the decision to focus only online but, quickly rethought it and made it a quarterly instead of a monthly.
The brand will focus on their online property according to Spin Media Group C.E.O. Stephen Blackwell. ‘When I look at what was going on here prior to my tenure, I think that some of the resources…if we’re directing resources toward print, that intrinsically means that we’re directing resources away from digital. I’m here to commit to directing all of our resources toward the digital side of Vibe,’ he said.
The brand receives 6 million to 7 million unique visitors per month and has a combined 1.4 million followers on Facebook and Twitter.