Outside Is Done?

Once one of the most important magazine for the outdoor space ‘Outside’ (formerly known as Outside Magazine, now billed as Outside Interactive Inc.) announced more layoffs last week. Stephen Casimiro, founder of Adventure Journal shares the info on his Instagram:

The parent company of @outsidemagazine has laid off 20 members of the magazine’s editorial and business staffs, leaving doubt about the ongoing viability of the publication in print and online.

Will the last person writing for Outside please turn off the light?

But wait:

With the acquisition of Inntopia, we decided to restructure some of our editorial team to allow our outdoor vertical experts to own their categories across the entire platform.

So clearly money is still flowing. It’s just that story-telling isn’t a viable business model for someone coming from a tech background and pockets full of VC cash.

“If Your Only Tool Is a Hammer Then Every Problem Looks Like a Nail.”

Bringing a different vision to the “media game” and rethinking how to make money in the new world does make some sense. It’s just too bad they had to do it while destroying all these beloved magazines in the process.