Hour Media Cuts 72 Percent of Staff at Utah Bride & Groom, Sister Publications

When JES Media sold its three Utah lifestyle titles to Detroit-based Hour Media, staff were told no one would lose their jobs. That promise lasted roughly two months.

Eight of 11 editorial and creative employees at Salt Lake Magazine, Utah Bride & Groom, and Utah Style & Design were laid off in March, about a month after Hour Media completed its acquisition of the magazines in February. The cuts amounted to 72 percent of the combined editorial and creative workforce across the three publications.

The Art Director who served all three titles for approximately two and a half years was among those let go. "JES Media was bought by Hour Media in early January with the promise that no one would lose their jobs," the Art Director wrote in a public post following the cuts. "Fast forward two months, and 8 of the 11 people on our staff have been laid off, myself included. So... that aged well." The post continued: "Our team did a lot with very little, and somehow still managed to make beautiful, thoughtful publications. I genuinely loved working with every single person there. They're wildly talented, passionate, hardworking people, and I'm lucky to have shared the trenches with them."

The layoffs swept through nearly every editorial and creative function at the magazines. Three full-time print editors, two web editors, three art staffers, an office manager, and a part-time contract editor were among the roles affected, according to reporting by Salt Lake Tribune journalist Palak Jayswal.

Hour Media owns publications across seven states and did not respond to a request for comment. The company has made no public statement explaining the rationale behind the cuts, whether severance was offered, or how editorial operations at the three Utah titles will continue going forward.

For Utah Bride & Groom specifically, the losses represent a gutting of the institutional knowledge that shapes regional bridal coverage: the editors who knew local venues and designers, the art staffers who built the visual identity across print issues, the web editors maintaining a digital readership. Regional bridal publications depend precisely on that kind of embedded, relationship-driven expertise, the kind that doesn't transfer from a corporate parent based 1,700 miles away in Detroit.

Whether Hour Media intends to rebuild the editorial teams, consolidate production into its broader network, or quietly reduce the titles to skeleton operations remains unanswered. What is documented is the speed: a purchase, a promise, and then eight people out the door before spring.