According to Kipp Report, Dubai-based publishing house ITP has confirmed that a number of its titles have folded, but declined to comment on the number of staff fired since the crisis it the media industry.
 
Employees at Dubai-based ITP, the Middle East’s largest publishing house, claim the company has fired a number of staff this week and plans to continue downsizing.

Publications throughout the region have suffered losses due to dwindling advertising revenue caused by the global credit crisis, leading publishing houses in the Gulf to consider canceling or suspending titles.
“ITP continues to maintain a strong, vibrant regional publishing, events and Internet business in the Middle East and India,” wrote a company spokesperson in a statement to the press.

“Today’s market reflects a number of changed priorities and conditions that bring new challenges but also, ultimately, new opportunities. The company is refining its operations to ensure that it continues to meet market needs and provide value to the organizations and people it serves and remains committed to providing media that lead the way,” the statement said.

It is not clear how many staff members have been fired since January 2009, and whether more titles may be at risk of folding.