Once the best-selling consumer magazine in the United States, Reader's Digest may close its Chinese version due to unclear readership targets and weak promotion.

Reader's Digest began to publish the monthly magazine Puzhi on the Chinese mainland in 2008 with the cooperation of the Shanghai Press and Publishing Development Company.

Puzhi, which means "universal knowledge" in Chinese, is the same size as Reader's Digest in the US and features similar content.

YeQingcheng, a Beijing-based writer, posted on her micro blog on Monday night that the Puzhi office has started to dismiss employees and that Reader's Digest is going to quit the Chinese mainland market. She said it was a pity to lose such a good magazine.

GregoryYim, the Shanghai-based business manager of Reader's Digest China, would not comment when reached by China Daily on Tuesday.

But one staff member confirmed the planned closure. "It's true, but we're still waiting for more information about when we will leave," said the staff member, who refused to be identified.

XueLi, a Shanghai-based freelancer, said she has written articles for almost every issue for two years. "The magazine did not tell me whether it would close or not. But it does not matter to me because I write for several magazines and papers at the same time," she said.

HuangJianhua, an accountant from a food supply company in Shanghai, started to read Puzhi in 2009 when her bank gave her a free six-month subscription.

"It's true that some of the original essays and book reviews are quite impressive, but translated articles, which take up most of the content, do not interest me," Huang said. Its circulation was around 420,000 when it debuted.

WangPeng, a Wuhan-based brand-marketing expert, said Puzhi lost ground in the market mainly due to its unclear orientation.

"The magazine wanted to be family-oriented, but in China, values of parents and children might vary a lot. It also aimed to attract high-end readers using its overseas background," he said. "Puzhi hoped to win the two groups but neither of them has been pinned down."

"Lack of attraction to readers would directly lead to slim advertising revenue and that's the main reason why the company would possibly suspend the magazine," he said.

【新聞快訊】

曾經(jīng)在美國最暢銷的雜志《讀者文摘》，可能因為無法契合中國讀者的口味以及銷量上的持續(xù)疲軟，而關(guān)閉它的中國分部?！蹲x者文摘》從2008年開始，與上海新聞出版發(fā)展公司合作，在中國大陸推出月刊《普知》?！镀罩泛汀蹲x者文摘》在內(nèi)容與定位上大致一致。

一位《普知》北京站的作家，本周一在自己的博客上發(fā)布消息稱《普知》已經(jīng)開始裁員，美國《讀者文摘》將推出中國大陸市場。這位作家對此表示惋惜。而《普知》上海站的業(yè)務(wù)主管本周二在接受《中國日報》采訪時對此消息沒有發(fā)表任何評論。但《普知》的另一位員工確認(rèn)了關(guān)閉的消息。這位不愿意透露姓名的員工表示：“關(guān)閉是肯定的，但具體的時間安排還沒有確定?！?/p>

上海一家食品供應(yīng)公司的會計，從2009年開始閱讀《普知》。他表示：“《普知》上許多原創(chuàng)的文章和書評很吸引我，但雜志上絕大部分的內(nèi)容都是翻譯過來的文章，我對此不感興趣?！?一位武漢的品牌營銷專家表示，《普知》在中國大陸的失敗主要是由于它的定位不明確。

“這本雜志想走家庭路線，但在中國，父母和孩子之間的閱讀差異非常大。同時，它又希望用自己的海外背景來吸引更多高學(xué)歷的讀者。《普知》的兩個定位最后都失敗了。對讀者的吸引力減弱造成的直接后果就是銷量下降，廣告投放量減少，因此《讀者文摘》就會選擇放棄《普知》?！?/p>