Murdoch's Smallest Asset Folds

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SUVA: The South Pacific's oldest news magazine, the Pacific Islands Monthly (PIM), announced on Friday it was ceasing publication, Fiji's Sunday Post/AFP has reported.

The magazine had the celebrated status of being the smallest asset in the empire of Rupert Murdoch.

PIM was part of Fiji Times Publishing Ltd, and its last issue appeared this week with a cover story on Fiji coup leader George Speight.

The magazine began its life in the late 1930s, published out of Sydney and focusing on the activities and lifestyles of the white colonial settlers, mainly in Fiji and what was then New Guinea.

With independence in the Pacific for many of the states, PIM became the key magazine in the region.

But it is understood the publication has not been making money for some time, and editor Sophie Foster Hildebrand said the June issue was to be the last.

"Because of the events in Fiji at the moment, and PIM's failure to attract advertising revenue over the long term, its publishers have decided to close it down," she said.

"A potential buyer for PIM was being negotiated but the funds have not been forthcoming." - AFP

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