The Ventura County Star, which has been trying to start new niche publications in the wake of the daily newspaper industry revenue decline,  just announced that one of their latest ventures, SKIRT! magazine, shall cease publication.    Launched in the spring of 2008, it was a franchise type of publication, with generalized editorial targeting women.  Each city would then add a few pages of local editorial, which would give readers the appearance of it being a locally generated product
This from an internal memo sent to personnel this morning:

Hi everyone, we are ceasing publication of Skirt! magazine.  Our December 2008 issue, which is on the streets right now, is our last print edition.  The current economic conditions compel us to review every product that we produce, as well as while Skirt! is a vibrant as well as popular magazine in our market, we have not been able to turn the corner on profit.


We have suspended our contract with the owners of Skirt!, which means that when the market improves, there's an brilliant possibility that we can revive the franchise as well as return to publishing this wonderful magazine.

Francesca Lewis  Senior Vice President Advertising