Dead-tree media deathwatch: R.I.P. Business 2.0

It's official.  Business 2.0 joins the dodos and dinosaurs, with all but a core staff of 10 getting 1-year-salary severance agreements (so Peter Kafka's sources say).  The lucky 10 will reportedly augment Fortune's Valley coverage--assuming they want to.
 
The good news (for magazine folks) is that B 2.0's problems appear to have been at least partly management-related.   NYT reports that Time Inc. consolidated sales for its finance-business magazines earlier this year, and the sales force reportedly ignored B 2.0 to focus on the sexier Fortune.  The circ was reportedly stable, just north of 600,000. 

But, in any event, B 2.0 ad revenue collapsed, dropping 38% year over year, despite a red-hot business market, stock market, and advertising market.

Forbes' Brian Caulfield has more on the larger story here: Despite the economic boom, the ad dollars are going to bloggers and Google, not Red Herring, B 2.0, et al.  It's not just the wasted paper, ink, and postage--it's the time delay.  By the time the magazine arrives, everyone's already read the story online (or ignored it, if the magazine is trying to "protect it's business" by maintaining a firewall).  Expect more B 2.0-type announcements to come.  Forbes