Metadish, Fresh from NYC

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CJRDaily.org is the online presence of the Columbia Journalism Review. The managing editor and an online adjunct both quit yesterday after being told that the budget for the site was being cut in half.

Nicholas Lemann, the dean of Journalism, said that the website doesn’t make enough money to sustain itself and he has been unable to raise enough funds to keep the site up at it’s current budget.

“I have the same issue that everyone else in journalism has, and this is our best lunge toward a solution,” Mr. Lemann said.

In what can only be described as cutting edge, forward thinking Lemann decided to chop the online budget in half while pouring funds into a direct mailing campaign to try and boost the print circulation, which is currently around 20,000.

“It’s a fundamental policy dispute about the allocation of resources,” Mr. Lovelady said. “Nick has decided to spend the money on a direct-mail campaign for the magazine, in hopes of saving subscription revenue. To me, that sounds like something out of the 19th century. He’s taking the one, fresh, smart thing he has and gutting it.”

I’m sure this whole internet thing is a fad. Lemann will be vindicated in the end. Who doesn’t like to get “surprise” mail soliciting subscriptions to a bi-monthly journalism mag. Aside from a rectal exam, is there anything better in life?

2 Editors Resign at Web Site Linked to Journalism Review [NYT]

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