Time shuts mag, sacks staff

Asia Pacific - Time Inc has closed its magazine covering the South Pacific and made 10 editorial staff redundant in Australia.

The South Pacific edition of Time, which covers Australia and New Zealand, will no longer be published. These markets will now be served by the Asia Pacific edition which is produced out of Hong Kong.

In a statement from Time Inc in New York, the company said: "As part of its continuing process of aligning costs and operations to the way people consume news today, Time International is proposing to consolidate some editorial functions in New York, where Michael Elliott, the editor of Time International, has been based since 2006.

"Time remains committed to serving the Australian and New Zealand markets and our business team, headquartered in Sydney, will remain in place to serve our readers, subscribers and advertisers there."

According to overseas media, Time Inc is making 600 staff cuts globally amid the worldwide recession.

This latest development follows other recent news media closures in Australia including iconic news magazine The Bulletin, a competitor of Time Australia, which closed in January while Fairfax Media sacked 550 staff in Australia and New Zealand in August.