In Touch, Life & Style, Closer and First for Women Magazines to Shutter, Lay Off Entire Staffs

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Four magazines – In Touch, Life & Style, Closer, and First for Women – have run their course.

McClatchy Media Company, the organization behind these publications, announced to their employees last Friday that each of the four magazines they manage will cease operation within the next few weeks. This decision will be finalized when the last issues are published by late June, according to information obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Regrettably, despite our skilled team’s dedicated attempts, we haven’t been able to establish a profitable business strategy for four of our magazine brands: First for Women, In Touch, Life & Style, and Closer. As communicated by McClatchy spokesperson Julie Pendley in a statement to THR, the last issues for these magazines will be published between June 20th and 27th. We express our appreciation for the valuable work of the affected staff members and are offering assistance during this transition period.

It’s uncertain exactly how many staff members will be affected by the layoffs. We have attempted to get more information regarding the number of employees who might be impacted.

The latest developments deal another significant setback to the media and magazine industry, which has experienced numerous job losses and budget reductions as a result of falling readership, adjustments to algorithms, increased AI usage, and a shift towards social networking platforms such as TikTok. As recently announced, Business Insider is reducing its workforce by 21 percent, with every department being affected by these layoffs.

McClatchy’s closures symbolize the conclusion of an epoch in the celebrity tabloid industry, as three prominent titles in this field are now defunct. Although McClatchy is primarily recognized for its newspaper publishing endeavors such as The Kansas City Star, Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Charlotte Observer and others, it ventured into lifestyle and entertainment sectors after merging with accelerate360, a company specializing in distribution, logistics, and media.

McClatchy’s shutdowns mean the end of an era for celebrity gossip magazines, as they’ve lost three big titles. While McClatchy is famous for its newspapers like The Kansas City Star and Miami Herald, it started a new venture in entertainment news when it combined with accelerate360, which handles distribution, logistics, and media.

In the merger, they obtained Us Weekly. As per a source,

Even though there was a decline in their print circulation, these magazines had a significant online presence and large social media fan bases. Specifically on Instagram, both ‘Life & Style’ and ‘In Touch’ boasted over half a million followers, accompanied by thriving websites.

The dip in print sales didn’t hinder the popularity of these magazines; instead, they enjoyed impressive online readership and a strong social media presence, especially on Instagram. ‘Life & Style’ and ‘In Touch’ each had more than half a million followers on Instagram, along with robust websites.

As stated by Editor-in-Chief Liz Vaccariello in a recent editorial, the magazine First for Women was established in 1989 and is published every two weeks. The content of this publication primarily aims to provide advice and inspiration on various topics such as beauty, fashion, health, psychology, diet, nutrition, food, family matters, and home-related subjects, as explained by Vaccariello.

Though Hollywood’s talent representatives might not be weeping currently, those who earned their livelihood in the realm of celebrity weeklies, within one of the magazines, are finding it challenging. A source let out a heavy sigh and described it as “yet another tough day in the tabloid industry.

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2025-05-31 02:55