Dow Jones closes Smart Money print version in favour of digital

Smart Money magazine is doing away with its print edition effective with the August issue and putting all of its energy and investment into building SmartMoney.com. According to a story in minonline, the publication will expand its digital team to 15 people. Twenty-five print magazine staffers will lose their jobs (though they can apply for the new digital positions).

Smart Money is wholly owned by Dow Jones & Co., publishers of the Wall Street Journal. It originally was a joint venture started in 1992 between Dow Jones and Hearst Corporation ( current Hearst president David Carey was the first publisher.) The magazine has been losing print ads and 2012 so far is down 9.3%.

In a statement regarding the decision to fold the magazine, Dow Jones & Co. editor-in-chief Robert Thomson said in a statement: “It’s clear that the volatility of markets and asset classes has increased the need for rapid delivery of personal finance intelligence, so we will be expanding our team and presence on the Web.”