Grumpy Editor

Las Vegas Life’s final issue focuses on going green

It would seem to be a difficult decision to shut down a glossy monthly city magazine that, in its final issue this month, contains 112 pages and upscale advertisers such as DeBeers, Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s and Cartier.

Such is the case in pulling the plug on Las Vegas Life, with a circulation of 40,000, first published 11 years ago.

So sudden is the termination, that April issues include “savings certificate” cards urging “subscribe today and save.”

The brand will be retained as an online portal in an effort to “improve efficiencies and remove some redundancies” in the company’s newspapers (including the daily Las Vegas Sun, delivered with the Las Vegas Review-Journal) and other magazines covering southern Nevada, says Michael Carr, president of Greenspun Media Group.

Lifestyles, restaurant, food and culture coverage will be folded into sister publications Las Vegas Weekly, VEGAS Magazine, Las Vegas Home & Design and a weekly newspaper group.

But could the demise of Las Vegas Life have something to do with going green, wonders Grumpy Editor.

The April farewell issue’s cover emphasizes “Going Green in Las Vegas” with the subhead, “With help from clean energy and conservation, it’s time to step up and save the Valley.”

Several articles, spanning 13 pages, cover the green aspect, including recycling, water, environment, right down to dry cleaners and recycling car washes.

Associate editor T. R. Witcher spells out what it takes to produce each Las Vegas Life issue, leading off with, “Being green ain’t easy” and mentioning concerns about emitting carbon dioxide plus electricity and fuel costs.

Among per month magazine production stats in Witcher’s article:  38,250 pounds of paper (traveling 1,581 miles from Tennessee) while delivering the magazine adds 39,502 miles, contributing to kicking up carbon emissions to 68,991 pounds, and 5,988 kilowatt hours of electricity consumed in the office while the magazine’s printer eats up 561 more KWH.

And, of course, green takes up the first five letters of Greenspun, the publishing outfit.

‘Mystery’ scenes illustrate 2 BusinessWeek articles

Two back-to-back articles spanning eight pages in the March 31 issue of BusinessWeek contain six black-and-white photos capturing shadowy evening New York City street scenes.

Adding to the mysterious, top-secret flavor, notes Grumpy Editor, is that each photo contains no caption.
Like frames from a foreign film, a "dark" atmosphere is captured by photographer Christopher Anderson in illustrating informative articles, “The Fed’s Revolution” and “Street of Fear.”

Although Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chairman Paul A. Volcker and economists are mentioned in the “Revolution” text, editors selected a somewhat fuzzy dominant photo to lead off “the financial crisis.” It shows an arm with a finger pointing to an unidentified man in an unbuttoned jacket standing in front of a building bearing Wall Street identification.

That’s it.  Covering almost half of two pages, it supposedly captures the financial crisis on “the street.”

Another after-dark photo in that article shows a hatless man in an overcoat (the type Dan Rather wore in CBS overseas assignments) clutching a beverage cup, perhaps coffee from Starbucks, while a woman with a turned-up coat collar approaches as steam obscures a building in the background.  (Is one of them passing government secrets?)

The final “Revolution” gloomy photo, similar to what used to be called a “grab shot,” shows a hatless man, hands in overcoat, rounding a corner of a nameless building.  In the background, other figures fade into the darkness, almost like the image was pulled from CIA footage.

Remember, all art is unidentified.

The action continues with “Street of Fear” images leading off with two hatless, briefcase-toting men in overcoats walking on a street under dim lighting adding to the “mystery.”  The camera was at ankle level, emphasizing the closest-to-the-lens briefcase.

Grumpy Editor couldn’t figure out the second photo in that article.  It could pass for something like a New Year’s celebration with a man in a suit looking up at a bright, somewhat sparkling, sky in an otherwise depressing concrete canyon.

The last captionless photo in the “Fear” piece is baffling.  Like a test shot to see if the camera shutter is operating, it shows the backside of a man in a coat about 25-feet away, walking on a gloomy narrow street alongside a steam of water flowing in a gutter.

These “Fear” photos were selected rather than art of financial folks, including analysts, mentioned in the text.