Ford axes major publishing houses.

This article reports on the decision of Ford Motor Co. to reduce its magazine advertising spending and eliminate major publishing companies such as Hearst Corp. and Meredith Corp. off its list. The move has set off alarms in the publishing community and raised fears the automaker may be the first major marketer to shift significant portions of its print budget to the Internet. Mark Kaline, manager of media services for Ford's Central Media Group, said Ford will increase funding for Internet marketing but said it wasn't entirely at the expense of magazines.