News magazine closes

Press, 29 April 1981, Page 9

News magazine closes

NZPA London “Now!” magazine, launched as Britain’s answer to “Time” and “Newsweek,” died yesterday, aged 19 months. “Now’s” proprietor, Sir James Goldsmith, announced the closure of his news magazine under the weight of losses estimated, at an annual rate of $6.0 million. A total of 120 people will be redundant, including many highly paid journalists — Sir James once said that “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” One of them, the deputy news editor, Tony Rocca, joined the magazine only 15 'minutes before the editor, Anthony Shrimsley, announced to the staff that the weekly was folding up. One estimate was that Mr

Rocca would receive $36,000 in lieu of his contract. Sir James said he was “very sad” about the closure, for which he blamed lack of advertising support. “In part this was due to general economic conditions, and in part because advertisers are not used to news magazines,” he said.

Sales had actually increased to about 125,000 from the audited figure of 119,000 last year. But the income was not there.

Sir James, an AngloFrench millionaire known for his forceful Right-wing political views, is chairman of Cavenham Foods, Ltd, one of the largest food and retailing conglomerates in Europe, with a turnover of $4.8 billion.

Before launching “Now” in

September, 1979, Sir James had twice tried to venture into British publishing. In 1977 he was interested in buying the “Observer;” and later was involved in a bid for the Express group. Sir James said his other companies and subsidiaries at home and overseas made good profits, but “you can’t allow one part of the business to subsidise another indefinitely.” Max Hastings, writer for the London evening newspaper, the “New Standard,” said that Sir James never quite recruited the top-line talent for which he was looking, despite salaries of up to $72,000 a year, far above Fleet Street’s normal rates, and the magazine never seemed confident of its market or formula.