Former Dolly editor and ex-Bauer magazine executive Marina Go, who until October was the mag’s publisher, says taking it bimonthly was the nail in the coffin for the iconic brand’s print edition.

On news.com.au, Go writes:

“The success of the Dolly website almost guaranteed the end of the print version. Dolly readers check their phones 130 times a day. How could a magazine, no matter how brilliantly executed, as it was to the end, compete with that?

“I was fortunate enough to have been given Dolly to publish, online and in print, earlier this year, just after the decision was made to take the magazine’s frequency to bimonthly.

“I groaned quietly. The whole Dolly team did. Less frequently, for teenagers? Editor Josie Rosenberg-Clarke and her tiny team of four took a deep breath, got back on that horse and created a brilliant version of the magazine that succeeded in lifting the magazine’s average circulation for the first time in about five years.

“But it wasn’t enough. It was never going to be enough. The economics just didn’t stack up. Not enough print revenue anymore for the teenage market. In its final year the brand booked more advertising revenue online. And you don’t need to be a media executive to understand that the costs of creating the digital product would be lower.”

Bauer announced yesterday it would no longer publish the title in print. Staff affected are to be redeployed. — Myriam Robin