Here’s the memo Forbes distributed to his staff this afternoon:

Various media outlets today noted that Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners has stepped off the Forbes Media board and that this portends an imminent round of additional cuts. It does not.

Cutting costs has been necessary at Forbes and virtually every other company in response to the unprecedented economic downturn. We are doing what is necessary for Forbes to get through these difficult times. It is critical to remember, however, that while coping with current conditions, we are also pursuing new initiatives, the latest being ForbesWoman. We are actively examining a number of other new ventures.

Forbes continues to outperform its competitors. The brand is stronger today worldwide than ever before. In a few days I am going to India for the launch of Forbes India, our eleventh local edition and the first of its kind in India. No other business brand has a larger worldwide audience offline and online. At 5.4 million, readership of Forbes Magazine itself is at an all-time high, and Forbes Digital attracts some 40 million unique visitors each month.

Let us also remember that in 2001-2002 in the aftermath of the tech bubble bursting, and particularly after 9/11, magazine advertising plunged. We had to take many painful steps at that time as well. There were many who said we should shut down the then money-losing Forbes.com. We did not, and it went on to great success. Now, just as then, we are contending with crisis but also planting seeds of our future success.

As for the Forbes Media board, several Elevation partners have rotated on it. Bret Pearlman has been involved from day one.  And Roger McNamee is still very much engaged with the company, particularly web strategy and technology.

We fully understand the concerns that the present difficult environment causes. We want to thank everyone for their hard work. We profoundly believe that the steps being taken, not only short-term painful ones, but also new growth initiatives, will make Forbes stronger than ever when economic recovery comes.

McNamee, who spearheaded Elevation’s purchase of 40 percent of Forbes Media in 2006, tells the New York Post’s Keith Kelly that his company’s original thesis–that Forbes’s fast-growing Web site would offset its declining magazine business–”has proved to be wrong for reasons that are no fault of Forbes.” More from McNamee:

“The deterioration in the advertising market late last year caused Forbes and Elevation to agree that we could no longer count on Forbes.com to offset declines in print. We agreed to a strategy shift from investment in the Web to aggressive cost cutting.”

As part of that shift, McNamee will be replaced by Elevation’s Bret Pearlman, who has a reputation as an aggressive cost-cutter.

Said McNamee of Pearlman’s appointment: “Elevation’s cost-cutting team happens to be in New York, so swapping Bret in and me out was an obvious play. I remain engaged in strategy and Web technology at Forbes.

I asked Forbes for comment this morning and got back this statement:

Several Elevation partners have rotated on the Forbes Media board. Bret Pearlman, while not formally a member of the board previously, has been involved from day one.  Roger is still very much engaged with the company, particularly web strategy and technology. Cutting costs, while painful, has been necessary at Forbes and virtually every other media company in response to the unprecedented economic downturn. We and Elevation believe that Forbes is well placed to ride out the present market and emerge in a very strong position when the recovery comes.

It’s possible that Forbes’s woes exist in a vacuum, or at least in a vacuum specific to the business magazine sector, which has already seen one title–Condé Nast’s Portfolio–shutter this year. But I don’t think so.

Which means we’ll see even more pressure at Time Warner (TWX) to cut costs at publisher Time Inc. People familiar with Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes’s thinking tell me he would like to spin off the publishing unit in the next year once he’s finished cleaving AOL from the company. If that’s the case, he’ll want to clean up the magazine business as much as possible before putting it on the market.