Women and Work, a U.S. Department of Labor publication, has folded because of budgetary cutbacks. Little demand for the 20-year-old monthly news service clinched the decision, according to Department of Labor spokeswoman Sue Blumenthal.
About two years ago, the department surveyed the publication’s 600 readers, primarily editors of magazines, newspapers, broadcast media and a few members of the public, about whether readers used the compilation of press releases and reports. “The only respondents were librarians,” Blumenthal says.
Four weekly compilations aimed at editors in other specialized labor fields also got the ax, saving a total of $115,000 a year for the Labor Department.
“But it’s not like people won’t be getting the information,” Blumenthal says. For all five of the canceled publications, the same material goes out more rapidly in press releases and over an electronic bulletin board. The printed news services “have just outlived their usefulness,” she says.
