UK publisher Emap has announced the closure of Internet Magazine, its only computing title, after 10 years of publication.

The increased popularity of web-based news has been a factor in the decline of the publication's readership, said Scott Parker, associate editor of Internet Magazine.

"People know how to use the internet for news now, so there is just a smaller and smaller market," he told dotJournalism.

"Everyone has done everything they can possibly do to entice readers to the magazine."

Mr Parker said the closure was inevitable - even though the title never made a loss.

"Part of Emap's success is that when something isn't working, it kicks it out," he told dotJournalism.

"It's a good business decision because Emap needs to focus on its core publications - lifestyle and music."

The lack of reliable publishing models for web magazines mean that it would not be viable to develop the title as a web-only publication, added Mr Parker, who began at Internet magazine in 1997 as web editor.

Emap Digital, which ran Emap's online publications, was closed by the group in September 2001. Web publishing has not been successful for Emap according to Mr Parker, who described Emap Digital as "a total disaster".

The magazine's website will remain live until the end of the last edition and is expected to be taken offline towards the end of June. There are no plans to republish Internet Magazine's extensive online archive of material, which contains all the magazine's content from 1999 and is free to access.

Internet Magazine staff have launched IM memoriam.com, which is likely to feature forums and a newsletter for former staff and readers of the title.

Related articles:
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story654.shtml
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story515.shtml

See also:
http://www.internet-magazine.com
http://www.im-memoriam.com
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