'Village' magazine closes after mounting losses
Friday August 29 2008
JOURNALIST Vincent Browne's latest magazine venture has come to an end amid mounting losses.
Three jobs are to go as a result of the closure of 'Village', it was announced last night.
The cessation of production is due to a drop in advertising revenues coupled with the cancellation of a number of contracted publications.
Between 2006 and 2007, the magazine lost more than €700,000, according to a statement from Mr Browne, who published the magazine, last night. While he expected to make a "modest profit" on the production this year, he said the cancellation of the contracted publications had meant they could not continue.
"I am not in a position to fund the losses we project and therefore we are suspending print publication," said Mr Browne in the statement.
He was yesterday pictured at the launch of the TV3 autumn schedule in the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin.
The magazine's website, Village.ie, will continue and will put up archive material from 'Magill' magazine, of which Mr Browne was also editor.
However, Mr Browne said that he hoped the magazine would be able to resume printing in the future.
"Village showed a loss of €589,000 for 2006. The losses were reduced to €111,615 on lower turnover in 2007," said the statement.
"We were on course to make a modest profit in 2008, but the cancellation of the contract publications and the downturn in advertising has made continuation impossible. The suspension of publication involves the loss of three jobs."
All of the 170 issues of the magazine will be put on the website along with 'Magill' archives between 1977 and 1998 and public affairs commentaries since 1994.
Accounts
According to accounts filed to 2006, Village Communications Ltd had lost more than €1m. Businessman and conservationist Michael Smith lost over €200,000 in the venture.
Subsequently, in March this year, Mr Smith criticised the magazine on his blog.
"Vincent is a charming guy, but sadly the magazine is badly edited, suffocatingly Gramsciite -- and has been the failure everyone I ever asked always smirkingly said it would be. It hasn't really broken a single notable story in its three-and-a-half years," he wrote.
'Village' was launched in 2004, initially as an 80-page weekly, promising extensive investigative reporting.
In January last year, it moved to a monthly print run.
- Shane Hickey
