The Grid calls it quits after three years

The Grid is shutting down. Announced on the publication's Twitter account, the weekly will run its last issue this Thursday before ceasing operations altogether. The Torstar-owned property launched three years ago to much fanfare as a replacement for Eye Weekly, and subsequently won a slew of awards for its sleek design and top notch journalism. John Cruickshank, president of Star Media group confirmed the closure in a statement on the Star's website this morning.

"Regretfully, despite a strong and loyal following, we have been unable to generate sufficient revenue from marketers and other sources to fund The Grid's great journalism.

Like all media brands, The Grid has been tremendously impacted by the proliferation of new advertising vehicles that are available to marketers in today's world."

Signs of trouble first surfaced with staff layoffs last year, but were increased with the announcement of a pared down redesign this spring. That said, the general reaction to today's news has been that of shock. It's unclear right now what the fate of the publication's digital content will be, though there appear to be no plans to continue in any capacity. One hopes that archived content will remain available even in the wake of the closure.

by Derek Flack via blogTO