READER’S Digest bids farewell to its United Kingdom (UK) readers after an 86-year run, as announced by the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Eva Mackevic, on her LinkedIn page.
Mackevic expressed her sadness, citing financial strains as the cause for closure in today’s challenging magazine publishing landscape.
Founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Wallace in the United States (US), the magazines couldn’t withstand modern financial pressures, leading its closure.
In her message, Mackevic thanked colleagues, writers, PRs, and brands, who contributed to the publication’s success in the UK. She also reassured owed writers about pending payments, promising swift resolution.
Reader’s Digest, which gained popularity in the 1920s, boasted a significant readership by 1929, with 290,000 subscribers and an annual gross income of $900,000.
Mackevic said the magazine’s first international edition was published in the UK in 1938, and by its 40th anniversary, it had expanded to 40 international editions in 13 languages, including Braille.
As its peak, it held the title of the largest-circulating journal in several countries, with a total international circulation of 23 million.
