As the annus horribilis draws to a close, we'd like to take a moment to honor some of the magazines that folded this year. The closing of these titles meant hundreds of jobs lost, not to mention a slightly less colorful newsstand this holiday season.
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Hearst was particularly ruthless this year, axing some of the bigger magazines on the list. Quick & Simple closed in July, Cosmo Girl ceases publication this month, and O at Home is also folding after its winter 2008 issue. Conde Nast also closed some big titles. Golf for Women folded in July, and the publisher said in November that Men's Vogue would cease to be a stand-alone publication, returning to its prior form as a supplement to Vogue with a twice-yearly publication schedule.
Among shelter titles, Time Inc. shuttered Cottage Living with its November-December issue, and Hachette Filipacchi said that Home would cease publication in October. On the tech front, PC Magazine said it was folding its print publication after the January issue, although it will live on online. Two sports titles also folded this year: the New York Times' Play and Time Inc.'s Sports Illustrated Latino, both of which were cut in November.
Time recently said it was folding the Canadian edition of its flagship newsweekly; Canadian readers will get the American edition of Time instead.
A number of smaller magazines were also shuttered in 2008, including Mass Appeal (May), Luxury Spa Finder (May), American Jewish Life (June), Future Snowboarding (June), and Atlanta Peach (December).
Time's Person of the Year: Guess Who?
Surprise! In one of its more predictable picks, Time magazine has named Barack Obama its person of the year, citing his ubiquity in the media and public life. The choice also recognizes his historic role as America's first African-American president, and the challenges he will face during one of the sharpest economic downturns in American history. Overall, Obama is in pretty good company--although being named "Person of the Year" (previously "Man of the Year") doesn't necessarily confer wisdom or probity.
Gandhi was honored in 1930, FDR was featured three times during his presidency, Churchill clinched it in 1940, as London endured the Blitz, and Martin Luther King, Jr. received it in 1963. Truman, Eisenhower, and Nixon were all chosen twice. However, Adolf Hitler also made the cover in 1938, followed by Joseph Stalin, who was also named twice: first in 1939, and again in 1942. The Ayatollah Khomeini appeared in 1979.
Bonnier Buys Scuba Diving
The Bonnier Corp. is expanding its portfolio of special-interest titles with the acquisition of Scuba Diving. The publisher claims that it makes Bonnier the premiere publisher in the recreational diving niche. The company already owns Sport Diver. The acquisition includes the Scuba Diving Web site, which has a large following among diving enthusiasts. Together with Undersea Journal, the two titles will form a new Bonnier Dive Group.
Time Inc. Moves Publishers
Time Inc. is shuffling the publishers at some of its regional lifestyle and shelter magazines. Peter Medwid has been appointed publisher of Sunset, taking the post vacated by Kevin Lynch on his retirement. Also this week, Charles Kammerer was appointed publisher of This Old House, replacing Matt Turck, who is leaving the company as part of Time's recently announced slim-down.