Reader's Digest to Declare Bankruptcy

Reader's Digest, the world's biggest-selling magazine, according to the Times of London, will file for bankruptcy protection by the end of the month. The reasons for the magazine's financial woes are all too familiar: a decline in circulation and advertising combined with crippling debt. Through bankruptcy, the magazine will substantially cut its debt. Its new owners will include companies that are no stranger to budget crises themselves, such as J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. Reader's Digest will continue publishing, though it recently went from printing 12 issues a year to ten, and also realigned to focus more on "socially conservative values."