Condé Nast to cease publishing Vogue Russia and other local titles

Condé Nast is to cease publishing Vogue Russia and all its local portfolio titles after new censorship laws came into effect. In a memo last week CEO Roger Lynch also cited the “senseless war” in the Ukraine as the reason to shutter operations.

Vogue Russia had been suspended since March, just like many international businesses which halted their Russian operations since the start of the war. Nationally the invasion is being referred to as “a special operation”, and any reference to the full-scale of the devastation or purpose is punishable by law. This is particularly challenging to media outlets who are being censored, monitored and who are by law forbidden from publishing the truth.

Lynch said that the company would close its entire Russian publishing house amid growing “escalation in the severity of the censorship laws, which have significantly curtailed free speech and punished reporters simply for doing their jobs.”

“Today, we informed our Russian colleagues of the difficult decision to terminate our franchise agreement and cease publishing in the market.”

Other magazines in its stable include GQ, Glamour, Tatler and Architectural Digest. “While we’ve had a successful business in Russia for over 20 years, the continued atrocities brought on by this unprovoked war and the related censorship laws have made it impossible for us to continue operating there,” Lynch said in the memo.

Publishing giant Hearst Magazines, which owns Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan, ended its ties with local partners Shkulev Media and Fashion Press last month, including shutting down its licenses.