VITAMEDIAS

A BUMPER CROP: For all the well-documented woes of the magazine business, 2003 brought more birth announcements than obituaries. It was, in fact, a huge year for launches. The number of launches jumped by 21 percent — the largest percentage gain in the 25 years that I have been tracking start-ups (the second-largest leap was 1998, when there was a 20 percent increase over the previous year). Although it was a big year for quantity, quality was another matter.