Paperboy struggled to generate sufficient revenue to make it sustainable. Photo / Bauer Media
Free weekly magazine Paperboy, owned by Bauer, is being discontinued.
Launched in late 2016, the publication was targeted at a younger audience and aimed at celebrating Auckland through its coverage of music, art, food, fashion and urbanism.
Bauer Media managing director Brendon Hill said there were seven editorial and five advertising staff working on the publication.
He said Bauer was currently in consultation with the team around alternative roles within the media company.
"We're looking to keep everyone on the team," he said.
The publication was edited by Jeremy Hansen, who took over the title after a long stint with Home magazine.
Given that staff consultation was still ongoing, Hill would not comment on whether Hansen would be staying with Bauer.
He said the decision was made to close the publication because it wasn't delivering sufficient revenue to make it sustainable.
"It was improving over the last few months, but it just wasn't hitting the sales targets."
Hill said Bauer hadn't given up on the idea of a publication like Paperboy entirely, explaining that the team was still open to finding a commercial model that would make it viable.
This comes off the back of an ambitious two years for Bauer, with the media company launching not only Paperboy but also Nadia and Miss FQ, which started online before moving to print.
All three publications picked up awards at last year's Magazine Media Awards.
Despite the failure of Paperboy to generate sufficient revenue, Hill said Bauer would continue to look for new publishing models and new opportunities.
"We'll continue to innovate and try new things," he said.
The event is described as a series of aggressive sales pitches.