‘Surfer’ magazine shuts down after 60 years; Snowboarder, Bike & Powder too

Surfer, the iconic magazine which has chronicled surfing and surf culture since 1960, has shut down after 60 years in publication. “We were told that we were being technically furloughed, but it was pretty clear there was no intention to bring the jobs back at any point, that essentially our duties had ended,” editor Todd Prodanovich told The New York Times.

In an Instagram post, Prodanovich said that Surfer was another victim of the COVID economy. "Funny how you can work a job like this for 10 years and each issue is a completely new and different journey," he wrote, sharing the cover of the mag's final issue, and saying the entire staff got let go. "I’ll really miss that part, and the mag in general, which ends on this issue after 60 years of publication. Hope you all enjoy the issue and thanks for reading over the years. Lots of love to everyone I had the privilege of working with to make this thing what it was while we could."

"It was the first. It became the communications vehicle for surf culture, and out of that came other ones," Peter Townend, surfing legend, told The Los Angeles Times. "We have suddenly lost one of the most iconic brands in the surf culture over the past 60 years."

Surfer was one of four sports titles that parent company A360 Media, which acquired Surfer last year (and owns tabloid The National Enquirer), shut down this week, furloughing the entire staff. The other titles were Bike, Powder and Snowboarder.

Just last week, Surfer made its first political endorsement, backing the Biden/Harris ticket in the upcoming presidential election. "And as our window to prevent the worst outcomes from climate change closes, it's more important now than ever to vote like the future of surfing depends on it." However, Prodanovich said on Instagram that the timing of Surfer's shutdown was just a coincidence. "No, nothing to do with the heat from the Biden endorsement, just the Covid economy."