The entire editorial staff of gay
glossy Out has been pink slipped with a severance package of
one month as of Friday.
According to CapitalNewYork.com,
Out content will be outsourced, or possibly insourced.
Editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin said he
would hire back an unspecified number of editors to work at his
startup, Grand Editorial, which is taking over the operations at Out.
“This was not a cost-cutting
measure,” Hicklin told the site.
Editors who decide to take Hicklin up
on his offer will board Grand Editorial as freelancers, giving up
their full-time salaries and benefits.
Out, which was acquired in 2008
by Here Media, sister company of Regent Entertainment, is Hicklin's
first corporate client for his content shop.
On the new venture, Hicklin said: “I
felt I was at a place where I had enough experience and relationships
to parlay that into an agency that would provide a sort of editorial
consultancy and content for other titles and corporate clients.”
“For lots of publications, midsize
publications especially, I think it makes sense to be a little more
innovative in thinking about how they find ways to continue creating
high-quality content while being mindful of the huge transition the
media is going through.”
A Here Media spokesman said the company
was “confident that the model we're utilizing will offer us the
best opportunities to remain competitive.”
Currently, gay glossy The Advocate,
another Here Media property, is bundled along with Out.