Radar magazine folds after three issues

Radar magazine, a fledgling publication about politics, pop culture, and style backed by New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman, has folded, its publishers announced Wednesday. Zuckerman and copublisher Jeffrey Epstein said that "the current economic environment--primarily reflected in the magazine's lack of advertising traction--no longer makes it feasible to continue publishing," according to a statement released by a Radar spokeswoman. Radar's roughly 50 staffers were told late Wednesday afternoon, and a follow-up meeting would be held on Thursday, spokeswoman Donna Dees said.

The magazine's openly gay editor in chief, Maer Roshan, said in a statement that "in just a few short months" Radar and its Web site broke news and published "groundbreaking stories." Radar's last issue, "The Scary Issue," featured 371 of what the magazine dubbed the most frightening things of the year as well as a piece by former Advocate and Los Angeles Times columnist Norah Vincent about her dressing as a man for 18 months. A book on Vincent's experiences is due out in January.

A media kit on Radar's site said its advertising rates were based on a circulation of 150,000. The magazine said it targeted 25- to 39-year-old educated professionals. Roshan said he was in talks with new investors and hoped to continue operations. Roshan, who previously worked at New York, Talk, and Interview, founded Radar in 2003, but the magazine fizzled without funding. Its current incarnation lasted three issues, the first in spring 2005. (AP)