Dow Jones to close Far Eastern Economic Review

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp's Dow Jones & Co plans to shut down the Far Eastern Economic Review, its storied Hong Kong-based monthly magazine struggling with losses as readers and advertisers move to the Internet.

The 63-year-old magazine, which has covered business and politics in the region since World War II, will shut down in December, Dow Jones said.

In 2004, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal switched the format of the magazine to a monthly from a weekly, cutting 80 jobs, or 10 percent of Dow Jones' staff in Asia at the time.

"The decision to cease publication of the Review is a difficult one made after a careful study of the magazine's prospects in a challenging business climate," said Todd Larsen, chief operating officer at Dow Jones Consumer Media Group.

Dow Jones said Hugo Restall, the Review's editor, will remain a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. Current Review subscribers will be offered a one-year subscription to the Asian online edition of the Journal.

Meanwhile, Dow Jones is investing in other resources in the region: it has expanded local content from Asia in The Wall Street Journal print and online editions, expanded its Chinese online edition and is launching a Japanese-language website this fall.

(Reporting by Jui Chakravorty; Editing by Gary Hill)