63-year-old FEER ceases publication

       The Hong Kong-based monthly magazine Far Eastern Economic Review will cease publication in December due to falling readership and advertising revenue, the publisher confirmed yesterday.
       The 63-year-old magazine has continued to lose readers and advertisers despite several attempts at invigorating the brand, publisher Dow Jones Consumer Media Group said.
       But faced with continuing readership declines at the Review , the company said it has chosen to concentrate its efforts on its core print and online publications, in an effort to boost the company's growth in Asia.
       Todd Larsen, chief operating officer at Dow Jones Consumer Media Group,said the company had been proud to be associated with the magazine and its invaluable contributions to the understanding of the Asia region.
       "The decision to cease publication of the Review is a difficult one made after a careful study of the magazine's prospects in a challenging business climate,"he said.
       "The magazine has a rich history of pioneering journalism and helped to set the standard for the press in Asia in the post-World War II era, when local publications often lacked the freedom to report honestly."
       Dow Jones has already expanded its Asian content in the Wall Street Journal and in its online editions with a redesigned WSJ.com website.
       It has also launched a mobile application that delivers news content via BlackBerry and iPhones.
       The company said these investments in Asia had translated into an increased print circulation of 6.3% year-over-year for the January-to-June period, with particularly significant growth in Hong Kong,India, Malaysia and Taiwan.
       Founded by Eric Halpern, an immigrant from Vienna, in Hong Kong in 1946, the Review published freelance analysis and opinion for some 30 years before becoming a weekly news magazine that charted Asia's turbulent economic and political rise. It was the subject of lawsuits from Singapore's leaders and banned from the island nation.
       Dwindling readership and advertising following the Asian financial crisis and dot.com meltdown forced a return to its roots in 2004. Nearly all the magazine's 80-plus staff were cut and it reverted to publishing mostly academic-style opinion and analysis in a monthly journal format.
       The Review as a monthly publication had a little over 12,000 subscribers across Asia, Europe and the United States.
       Its current editor, Hugo Restall, will remain on the Wall Street Journal 's editorial board.
       The company said current subscribers would be offered a one-year subscription to the Asian online edition of the Wall Street Journal.