I am saddened today to hear that Mothering Magazine will not be able to print anymore, ending they 34-year run due to the down economy and the decline of print media in general.

They posted an open letter today here explaining today that their last printed issue was actually December 2010 and their last web-published issue is March 2011.

In 2009, magazine subscriptions saw their steepest decline in 40 years.

The venerable magazines Gourmet and Reader’s Digest ceased publication.

After three years of decline in advertising sales, subscription orders, and newsstand sales, with the March–April 2011 issue we saw our ad sales drop to their lowest point in 10 years.

In a single year, from March 2010 to March 2011, we lost one-third of our print advertisers.

I am surprised to hear, though maybe I shouldn’t be, that they would lose so much money even in a web-only magazine situation. They are ending the digital version of the magazine because even with trimming all the costs of physical printing and distribution, it would be prohibitively expensive for their staff to put together an online edition

I am personally interested in this story as one of those remaining advertisers, having signed a contract for every issue in 2011 to run a 1/3 page advertisement for this store. Time to go double-check the paperwork.

Mothering.com will move forward with their huge forums, their blogs and articles and resources, all of which is good news for the natural parenting community, especially pregnant and nursing moms who rely on Mothering for information and social support in those crucial times.