This month, KoreAm published its final issue. It was acquired last year by London Trust Media, a virtual private network and entertainment company with no other publishing or media component, and the new owners laid off all remaining staff members this summer.
KoreAm and its sister publication, women’s lifestyle magazine Audrey, will continue in some online format, but Ryu has yet to figure out what that is. Ryu, who will stay on as publisher, says it will likely be shareable videos and interviews rather than the long-form writing and in-depth profiles KoreAm was known for. Stephanie Lee, wife of London Trust Media’s founder, is joining him as co-publisher.
The publication, which was printing 10,000 copies with up to 7,000 paying subscribers, had been losing money for some time, Ryu said. Advertisers preferred Korean-language publications, thinking English-speaking second-generation Korean Americans would be captured by their mainstream media product pitches.
Dumb!! Why would you pay 100 times more to be in a publication that only includes 5% of your targeted population??