Lack of finances and the inability to find new investors is forcing the closure of JPG Magazine - a print and Web publication which features pictures by proletarian and expert photographers - and its parent company 8020 Media.

Ever since JPG's acquisition by 8020 Media, two years back, almost 200,000 photographers have contributed material to the magazine, mostly through Flickr. According to The New York Times, the print magazine - which was published six times a year and had a circulation of 50,000 - had contributors submitting pictures on a variety of themes, and the members of the community of JPG users voting on the best photos that were displayed.

In a post on the magazine's blog on Thursday, JPG Magazine editor-in-chief Laura Brunow Miner, wrote that jpgmag. com would shut down next week, and that the publication of its print version would be stalled.

In the words of Miner, "We've spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we've reached the end of the line. We all deeply believe in everything JPG represents, but just weren't able to raise the money needed to keep JPG alive in these extraordinary economic times."

Announcing the closure of 8020, its chief executive, Mitchell Fox, in his letter to the Times cited the economic crisis and the fall in advertising, which is also hitting established US media outlets.