North American magazine launches outpaced closures by more than three to one during the first half of 2014, according to new research from New York-based MediaFinder.
According to MediaFinder, an online database of U.S. and Canadian publications, there were 93 launches and 30 closures between January and June, compared with 97 launches and 29 closures during the same time period last year.
The top category for new launches was “regional interest,” which added six new titles, including 12th & Broad and The Sip. There were also additions in the “craft” category (Craft Beer & Brewing, Willow & Sage), while other new titles included Barbeque America and San Francisco Cottages & Gardens.
High-profile closures included the Johnson Publishing Company title Jet, which first began publishing in 1951 as “The weekly Negro news magazine,” and Meredith’s Ladies Home Journal, which had been publishing for 131 years.
Fifteen new titles were launched in the business-to-business sector, one more than last year, while five B2B titles closed (compared with nine last year). Two other U.S. B2B titles, Computerworld and CSO, dropped their print editions.
