Fairfax gives up on 'Style' magazine

By SIMON HENDERY


Publisher Fairfax has closed Style magazine and signalled changes for the locally printed edition of the Australian Financial Review as it continues a shakeup of the publications stable it bought from INL in April.

The general manager of Fairfax Magazines, Sarah Sandley, said Style magazine, which has a circulation of about 12,000, was being closed because it "did not meet the commercial objectives we require".

The December/January issue of the magazine, now on sale, would be the last.

Meanwhile a Fairfax spokesman said the company would make an announcement relating to the New Zealand edition of the Australian Financial Review in the near future. Until then, it was not commenting on speculation it was about to cease the local print run of the daily business tabloid.

Fairfax began printing and distributing the AFR locally in October last year.

Since buying INL's publishing business in April this year for $1.188 billion, Fairfax has said business media was an area it was interested in developing once it had bedded in the INL business.

The company is understood to have investigated buying the country's two weekly business journals, The National Business Review and The Independent.