The Bark, Talk & Cosmo Girl Hailed as "Most Notable Magazine Launches"

What do the much publicized debut of Tina Brown's new publishing venture (Talk), Cosmo's courting of the Y Generation (Cosmo Girl) and a scrappy new dog magazine (The Bark) have in common? They were each singled out as one of the "30 Most Notable Magazine Launches of 1999" by industry expert Dr. Samir Husni, Professor Journalism at the University of Mississippi. Considered the guru of magazine publishing, Husni selected his winners from the 894 new titles introduced last year—"my choices reflect my opinions and belief that these magazines are innovators, or will otherwise make an impact on the industry. Bark signals a possible change in pet-oriented magazines." According to Husni, who has tracked magazine trends for 15 years, the total number of consumer magazine launches in 1999 was down 16% from the year before. However, Husni is not alarmed by the decline: "I know that the Internet and television haven't killed the magazine market when I see a magazine like Bark have a successful launch. This quarterly publication, with its motto, 'Dog is my co-pilot,' is living by the hair of the dog in a 'ruff' market—all puns intended. Bark ignores grooming and training, but instead deals with dogs in a literary and psychological sense."

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