Respect Authority

Back in the day, when my faith in the magazine industry was not yet lost, I made the massive mistake of subscribing to Radar. I say this was both a mistake, and massive, not because I don’t enjoy Radar — rather, it was and is one of my two favorite magazines — but because the process of subscribing to a dying media is trying, frustrating and ultimately heartbreaking.

You see, in a way this was my fault. Being something of a nerd for media gossip, I knew Radar’s unfortunate history: the magazine had already started and folded several times before its latest incarnation, sort of like a determined toddler whose attempts at walking keep ending with crashes into the coffee table.

Moreover, Radar’s latest foray into the great big world of publishing came at a time when magazines were already on the decline: some of the country’s more stalwart titles — Time, Newsweek, Men’s Vogue — were already seeing storm clouds on the horizon, so for a magazine devoted to the very celebrity gossip and snarky commentary reinvented by the mag-killing blogosphere to attempt a print revival — well it was sort of like glossy suicide. Read More ›

Radar magazine is officially closing, again. 

The magazine’s investors reportedly put the kibash on financing this week, and sold semi-popular RadarOnline to American Media Inc. This is (literally) the fourth time the title has gotten the axe, since it seems after the first three closures no one got a clue. 

It pains me to say this, considering Radar is actually the only magazine I have a subscription to. But in a way, the fact that Radar was actually incredibly intelligent and absolutely hilarious makes it all the more logical that it would close. With seven million variations on the “Look at celebrities pick their noses!” or “Lose twenty pounds by doing absolutely nothing!” titles, it’s only natural that a truly good magazine would be headed for the gutter. 

[Gawker]