Editorials
LIFE Magazine about to fold
Hardly anyone outside of North America has ever had a copy of Life in their hand but its reputation in many countries is almost legendary. The magazine mainly made an international name for itself as a platform for top-class photography and reportage. Now, it is – once again – due to cease publication: as Time Inc. announced to the New York Times, the last issue will appear on 20 April. The reason given is the decline in advertising revenues.
It has been on the cards for some time that the final curtain might well come down for this once prestigious magazine. Originally founded in 1936 as a weekly, it first stopped publication in 1972. Its fame for photojournalistic excellence originates from this initial period, when images were published by such photographic legends as Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White, W. Eugene Smith or Andreas Feininger.
LIFE returned to the newsstands as a monthly magazine in 1978, but its publication ceased once again in the year 2000. Publication resumed in 2004 but only as a 20-page weekend supplement for various newspapers. The problem was, its circulation was way behind that of its competitors Parade or USA Weekend.
What will happen to the erstwhile giant’s archives, especially its picture archive? According to the New York Times, there are plans to put the picture archive on the web and make the images available to everyone for downloading free of charge.
The NYT is convinced that this is finally the end of the road for LIFE. Who knows? Perhaps it will be resurrected once again! Stefan Hartmann, VISUELL
Web: www.life.com/Life/ - Click here to view featured cover image.
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