State Chamber Of Commerce Ceases Publishing NC Magazine

RALEIGH, NC – The North Carolina Chamber announced today that it will cease publishing its magazine, NC Magazine, with the current November/December issue due to a steady decrease in advertising revenue since the start of the year. 

“Whether due to the current economic climate, a shift by advertisers from print-based to Web-based promotions, or both, advertising revenue has fallen off significantly since January,” said Sherry Melton, vice president of communications for the North Carolina Chamber.  “We’ve seen a 68 percent decrease in 2009 from last year. 

“As disappointing as it is, our state chamber’s magazine has not been able to buck the print publishing trend,” Melton said.  Melton also serves as executive editor for NC Magazine.

North Carolina Chamber President and CEO Lew Ebert said that that the challenges faced by NC Magazine this year have no bearing on the financial position of the state Chamber.  “The North Carolina Chamber is financially strong,” he said.  “Decisions that were made in the past to separate NC Magazine from the chamber’s value proposition have served us well during these tough economic times.”

Ebert also said that the decision to stop publishing NC Magazine was not made lightly.  “We all value, respect and celebrate NC Magazine’s important place in the history of our organization and our state,” Ebert said.  “That’s why we spent months exploring options that might allow us to continue its long tradition in an environment where advertising revenue is far short of production expenses.  In the end, it became clear that a continuation of magazine was simply not feasible.”

Melton said that the change would not impact the North Carolina Chamber’s advocacy communications with its members.   “Our state Chamber will continue to communicate with our members about issues important to North Carolina’s economy and job retention and creation,” she said.  “We’ll be ramping up our communications in mediums that provide opportunities for real-time two-way interactions that are also cost-efficient.”

For the past two years NC Magazine has been produced by S&A Cherokee, a Cary-based publishing and public relations firm.  S&A Cherokee president Ron Smith said he was sorry to see NC Magazine cease, but that he recognizes that media is undergoing significant changes in North Carolina and nationally.  S&A Cherokee will continue to work with the state chamber on other projects.