A late Friday post and tweet at Queerty about the demise of the Advocate as a stand-alone magazine and major budget slashes at Regent Publishing has been disputed by Stephen Macias at Regent, according to a letter posted Saturday afternoon by Advocate editor Jon Barrett on his Facebook page. (Kenneth in the 212 has the whole letter).
In a letter apparently addressed to Queerty’s David Hauslaib, Macias confirmed that staff has been cut at the magazine, but said the magazine would continue as a monthly periodical. Macias, however, stopped short of disputing Queerty’s assertion that the Advocate would no longer be a stand-alone magazine but instead become an insert with Out, also produced by Regent.
The Advocate staff has not been “gutted” as you write. We are,
however, making strategic and sometimes difficult staff changes in order to support all iterations of The Advocate brand. The print expression (which will vary in size from month to month as it always has), will continue on its monthly schedule. Our website (which has quadrupled its traffic in the past 16 months) will be relaunched early next year with enhanced technology that will add dimension to the breaking news and features stories our editors and reporters are already delivering on a several-times-a-day basis. So what does that mean for The Advocate reader? We’ll still ask tough questions of the White House press secretary around issues like DADT, we’ll
still deliver online live video coverage of key events like today’s passage of the Ryan White Care Act, and we’ll report critical news around topics like the Defense of Marriage Act–only now you’ll get more of it (in a more timely manner) than ever before.
Here’s what Queerty reported:
And here’s the news we’re hearing (but have not confirmed with the company): The Advocate will cease publication as a standalone magazine offered on the newsstand. Instead, it’ll be poly-bagged as an insert of the company’s fashion and lifestyle glossy Out. If true, it’s unclear whether current subscribers will still receive a standalone version of the magazine or have their subscriptions swapped for Out. UPDATE: We’re told that moving forward, The Advocate will now be a 32-page insert in Out.
Macias said in his letter that Barrett has been promoted to Advocate editorial director overseeing the magazine, website, and upcoming television program. The news of cuts at Regent Publications comes days after a story in the Dallas Morning News with Stephen Jarchow–as reported by co-blogger Matthew Bajko–where he hinted that the print version of the Advocate could be on its way out.