May 2009 will be the last issue for Best Life, as the economic downturn has claimed yet another magazine. The Men's Health spin off was only five years old—even in magazine years, that's young. According to the Publishers Information Bureau, it was one of the few magazines to actually gain ad pages last year (as compared to the rest of the industry, which saw an almost 12 percent decline). Despite this fact, the publisher, Rodale, decided the magazine wouldn't be able to weather the state of the economy.
A friend recently told me that the current economy will weed out the bad publications, and only the good ones will be left standing. I can't get on board with that notion. Not when pubs like
Best Life are going under. It's unforgiving out there and unfortunately the economy isn't always so discriminating.
So, get out there to your local news stand and pick up your favorite mag. Renew that subscription you let slide—or better yet, start a new one. I just did ...