A Gloomy Story

One of the reasons this blog is named Stats & Storylines is because Wakefield believes that statistics tell stories.

In this case, a gloomy one.

This article from Crain's N.Y. Business shares several stats that reveal the current "quicksand" status of the magazine world:

In the first half of 2009, a total of 279 magazines ceased publication, according to a report from MediaFinder.com ...

An additional 43 titles, including Crain Communications' TV Week, shut down their print editions and continued publishing online. ... In the same period, just 187 new magazines launched.

For the entire year of 2008, the net change in the number of magazine titles was a drop of 148. That doesn't include 18 mags that went to online only.