Food, Glorious Food Propping Up Teetering Magazine Business

Publishers Starving for Results Get Them Served On A Platter By Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart

No surprise: magazine advertising is off. Way off for some in the first quarter, reports Keith Kelly in the New York Post.
But the one bright spot was food titles, especially populist books like Everyday With Rachel Ray and Everyday Food, put out by Martha Stewart.
Both titles focus on unfussy recipes that are easy to make, and let people enjoy a home-cooked meal without slaving all day in the kitchen. There's also an emphasis on value, especially appealing in light of one of the Post's most-emailed stories right next to the Kelly article: Food Prices Rising At Fastest Rate in 17 Years.
But the news is grim elsewhere in magazine land. Folio has the numbers, and they are uglier than Betty for some venerable titles, including Scientific American (off 45.5 percent in ad pages); U.S. News & World Report (down 37.5 percent); and Rolling Stone (off 32.6 percent).