Dawn of the Dead
The undertaker has had a busy month. After being bludgeoned by Scientologists, Mort Zuckerman, Jeffrey Epstein and Ron Burkle, Radar went down for the third time. Men's Vogue sputtered and fell back into the silk-gloved arms of Vogue; then Condé also toe-tagged its Fashion Rocks supplements, prompting wild Anna Wintour retirement rumors. DNR, the men's fashion industry mag from Condé Nast, also bit the dust. Editor in Chief John Birmingham confirmed the closure, but couldn't comment on all the details that were reported by Gawker. Out Traveler is packing its bags for a permanent vacation. PC Magazine announced it would go online-only, prompting the publishing equivalent reaction of, "Wait; he was still alive?" O at Home, a seemingly redundant shelter magazine from The Great and Powerful O, lost its lease. Cottage Living boarded up its windows, not just for the winter, but forever. The New York Times Co. said "Game over" to Play, its quarterly sports magazine. And though founder Bom Kim's so-called "Bom Squad" had long since disbanded, (unofficial) Harvard alum mag 02138 was thought to have a new lease on life after being purchased by Manhattan Media from Atlantic Media. Then it shuttered the same day Radar did - a day New York referred to as "Black Friday for magazines."
While death abounded, some titles soldiered on, playing hurt, and pulled through, though some limbs were lost. Like a bird with a broken compass that flies north for the winter, Condé Nast's ballyhooed Portfolio cut its Web division to the bone, but will keep the glossy coming (though it'll be a couple issues short). Autoweek must be in the midst of an identity crisis: the weekly announced plans to come out every other week, presenting some titling obstacles. And U.S. News and World Report, the third largest news weekly (after Time and Newsweek) went through a severe amputation: It will go monthly, losing 40 whole issues and focus on a Web-first strategy, à la The Christian Science Monitor. (You hear that Portfolio?)
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