'49?

'48, Magazine of the Year, was in trouble. To save its strength, it had lopped off its circulation department (about 30 employees) a fortnight ago. Last week, in a Manhattan Federal Court, the pocket-sized cooperative magazine tried kill-or-cure medicine. Publisher Walter Ross asked permission to reorganize under the National Bankruptcy Act, listing liabilities of $581,425 and assets of $172,080.

The monthly's biggest asset was an intangible: the talents of its 366 owner-contributors. But there had been no brilliant, tough editor to put those talents to work effectively. In the 16 months since '48 had started (as '47), it had bought too much bottom-drawer stuff, because it could not afford the prices other magazines paid for top-drawer pieces. The magazine had improved notably after Editor Richard E. Lauterbach, former LIFE staffer, took over seven months ago--but not enough to withstand the spring newsstand slump. It was running only a little above its advertising guarantee of 250,000.

Last week Ross and the editors were still hopeful; they had put the July issue to bed and were dickering with three groups of hovering angels. They wanted to raise close to $1,000,000. If they get it, they hope to restyle the cramped pages in a larger format, approximately New Yorker size, and put out a heftier, better magazine. But without new money, '48 would not become '40.

Rising costs had another pocket-sized monthly breathing hard. Starting with the July issue, Reader's Scope (circ. around 300,000), published by leftish Leverett Gleason, will come out every other month.

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