Last week, Duncan McIntosh announced the sale of Editor and Publisher (E&P), the insiders guide to the publishing industry. With roots dating back to 1884, the iconic trade journal was sold to media consultant Mike Blinder and his new company, The Curated Experiences Group. McIntosh is the president and group publisher of Duncan McIntosh Co., Inc. (DMC) and the previous owner of E&P. The sale closed on August 30; terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Editor & Publisher covers every aspect of the newspaper industry including business, advertising, circulation, marketing, technology, newsroom, online and syndication. In 2004, E&P went from a weekly publication to a monthly one. It also updated its website to provide more daily content, including breaking news affecting the publishing industry. Fortune reports that E&P has circulation of 10,500 and readership of 38,850. It has more than 24,000 digital subscribers.

With all our media holdings at DMC, I am particularly proud of E&P with its 135-year-old heritage as the voice of the news publishing industry, said McIntosh. I pass along the legacy of this great publication into the hands of a man I am confident understands E&Ps importance. Mike is a man of boundless energy and ideas so I feel good that passing the baton to him will inject vibrancy into E&P to continue its mission as the authoritative voice of news publishing.

McIntosh founded DMC in 1979. The company publishes three consumer boating publications: Sea magazine, Boating World magazine and The Log newspaper. It also publishes OC Weekly, a tabloid that covers Orange County (California) news and arts and entertainment scene.

Blinder, who has not been a publisher previously, has a background in radio and television, later starting one of the first digital newspapers in the United States. For more than 20 years, he has worked with different newspapers and newspaper groups including Gannett, McClatchy and The New York Times as a consultant through The Blinder Group, reports Fortune.

I have a lot of respect for Duncan. Nine years ago, just after the start of the recession, he stepped in and rescued E&P from the Nielsen chopping block. Even with its substantial resources and its Scarborough Research tie-in to the newspaper industry, Nielsen had given up on E&P. With his amazing team, Duncan was able to not only keep E&P publishing but build on that respected brand and grow its relevance to all news publishers, said Blinder.

Blinder said he wants E&P to continue to be a resource for the publishing industry. He hopes to expand beyond E&Ps monthly print magazine, daily email newsletter, website, Newspaper DataBook and EPPY Awards into other platforms including podcasting and voice and deepen coverage on important publishing topics like freedom of the press and the power of journalism.

Nu Yang will become E&Ps editor-in-chief and Evelyn Mateos will be the publications managing editor, beginning with the October 2019 issue.

I learned a lot about the news industry during my eight years working with Duncan, and Im excited to see where Mike takes E&P to next. After helping newspapers for more than two decades, Mike understands the needs and wants of the news publishing audience, and I know hes passionate about the industry, said Yang.

Insider Take:

As the news industry has evolved, the purpose and usefulness of a trade journal to the publishing industry has also shifted. E&P continues to maintain a strong reputation, even if readership isnt what it once was. Blinders experience in the newspaper industry will undoubtedly help him reshape the vision for E&P, moving into a more modern era that is focused on publishing as it morphs and adapts to the rapidly changing needs of news consumers.