Times shutters ‘Home’ section

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The New York Times Building (Haxorjoe via Wikimedia Commons)
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The New York Times is closing down its Home section, the latest in a series of moves that have been altering the composition of the print edition.

Executive editor Dean Baquet told employees in a Friday email that next Thursday's installment will be the section's last.

"I've concluded that coverage from the Home section would fit best in other parts of The Times, including Food and Real Estate," wrote Baquet.

In addition to its digital initiatives, where much of the growth is concentrated, the Times has been making targeted investments in print while also eliminating parts of the paper that it no longer sees as value propositions.

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At the end of the year, the Sunday Automobiles section was closed down as a cost cutting measure because advertising was not as strong as it used to be.

Meanwhile, the company relaunched The New York Times Magazine last week and is striving to bring lost advertising dollars back to the glossy Sunday supplement. The paper is creating a Men's Style section this spring to further capitalize on fashion and luxury advertising. 

Baquet announced in his memo that Jim Windolf, formerly the editor of M magazine, will edit Men's Style. Capital first reported earlier this month that Windolf had gotten the job.

The Times, like most newspapers, has seen a dramatic decline in its core print advertising business, which has shrunk more than $560 million over the past five years. At the same time, it has achieved growth in digital advertising and circulation, which now comprises more than half of its total revenues thanks to the paid digital model it launched in 2011.

Baquet's full memo about the 'Home' closure is below:

Over the past couple of months, we've set out on a major overhaul of the feature sections, which display some of our finest writing and most powerful images. We have reimagined some sections, including the Sunday magazine and Food. And we are creating a monthly men's style section to extend the franchise created by Thursday and Sunday Styles.

As we pursue this endeavor, I've concluded that coverage from the Home section would fit best in other parts of The Times, including Food and Real Estate. So I have decided to close Home; its last issue will be next week.

Over the years -- most recently under the leadership of Noel Millea -- Home has done a magnificent job capturing trends in home design and architecture. It has featured some of our biggest stars, including Suzanne Slesin and Penelope Green (Penelope will be joining Styles).

Our feature journalism is on the rise across The Times. The Sunday Magazine under Jake Silverstein has become an enticing platform for some of our best narratives, photography, and now even poetry. Jim Windolf has just arrived from M Magazine to begin creating a new monthly men's style magazine. The Cooking ​site​ has ​nearly three ​million users and has opened up a whole new way of thinking about the possibilities of our feature coverage online. A group of us is also involved in thinking of other lines of coverage.

Our feature sections are an essential part of The Times. They include some of our core beats, like fashion and food. And they broaden the entire personality of the report that we present to readers.

Dean