Conde Nast: No More Expensed Newspapers

By: E&P Staff Conde Nast Publications sent a memo Thursday stating that employees will no longer be able to claim newspaper subscriptions as a company expense, as part of a continuing effort to trim costs.

In a memo obtained by mediaite.com, Conde Nast Senior Vice President/Operations and Strategic Sourcing David Orlin wrote,"In today?s economic environment, managing expenses is a shared responsibility. With that in mind ... [e]ffective Monday, August 3rd, we are discontinuing newspaper subscriptions."

Under the new expense guidelines, Conde Nast employees will no longer be reimbursed for newspaper subscriptions or single-copy purchases, as well as direct-bill accounts at the Hudson News chain of New York City newsstands. The memo went on to say that newspaper delivery will be stopped, possibly as early as Aug. 3.

The announcement came 10 days after Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend, in another memo obtained by mediaite.com, announced an ongoing project designed to "rethink the way we do business in many instances and incorporate efficiencies in every step of our process."

Conde Nast are the publishers of a number of magazines, including Vogue, Golf Digest, Glamour, and GQ. It is part of Advance Publications, which publishes several major metropolitan newspapers, including The Plain-Dealer of Cleveland, The Star-Ledger of Newark, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, The Oregonian of Portland and its flagship, the Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance.

To see Orlin's memo in full, go here.