Gay publications show strength in down ad market. (Media & Technology).

Joe Landry should be the envy of the troubled magazine world.

With ad revenue and circulation plummeting at any number of publications, Landry has found success as publisher of the gay-oriented Out and Advocate magazines -- so much so that he plans to slow down circulation growth next year because advertisers aren't willing to fork over higher advertising rates.

"I don't want another 10 percent increase in '03 and advertisers saying, 'I'm not paying for it,"' Landry said. "When the economy picks back up, I'm sure it will be the golden days. I hope."

All told, putting the brakes on circulation these days is a nice problem to have.

Out, which was bought two years ago by The Advocate's parent, Los Angeles-based LPI Media, had paid circulation through June of 114,885, compared with 100,354 for the like period a year ago. For that same period, Advocate circulation was 103,129, up from 94,916 a year ago. All figures are unaudited.

As for advertising, The Advocate had 424 ad pages in the first six months of the year, according to the Magazine Publishers of America, down from 483 pages for the like period a year earlier. But ad dollars were up nearly 5 percent. Out had 266 ad pages in the first half of 2002, down from 280, with ad dollars also rising 5 percent.

"We're the only (gay-themed) vehicles that have the integrity that most advertisers are looking for that reach this market," Landry said. "We have the demographics."

Subscriber support

With few competitors, the two titles are not only surviving but growing. Recognized as one of the nation's first gay publications, The Advocate is a biweekly news and entertainment magazine. Recent cover stories range from a piece on gay priests to an interview with Robert Grant from Showtime's hit series "Queer As Folk." Out is a fashion and lifestyle monthly.

Unlike larger national magazines, much of their financial support comes from subscribers, who account for 88 percent of The Advocate's circulation and 85 percent of Out's total. The rest comes from newsstand sales.

"Ironically, during this downturn in the economy, the larger magazines are actually in more serious (trouble) than these smaller, special-interest publications that have a loyal subscriber base," said David Parker, a New York-based publishing consultant who works for such publications. "These publications can ride it out."

An annual subscription, or 26 issues, to The Advocate is $40. Newsweek charges $17 for 53 issues and Time is $37 for 42 issues. Out is $18 for a year, 12 issues, compared with $12 for Vogue and Glamour.

Aggressive direct-mail advertising has been a factor in the growth of Out and The Advocate. Some 2 million pieces of direct mail are sent out every year, Landry said. "We invest heavily in growing our circulation," he said. "Our response rates have been pretty steady."

Cultural shifts

Out and The Advocate also benefit from more accepting attitudes about homosexuality. The change is reflected in network and cable television programming such as NBC's "Will & Grace" and HBO's "Six Feet Under."

Cable network Sho Too's Wednesday night line-up, known as the "Nightout," is made up of "Gay Cinema," "Queer Duck" and "Queer as Folk." Also, Viacom Inc. and Canada's PrideVision are working on launching a gay cable network for the U.S.

"As there are cultural shifts in the country, it's been helpful for our business," Landry said. "In the past, there were some (subscription) agencies that were hesitant to sell our magazines for political reasons. Now, they're getting requests for our magazines."

Some argue that as Out and The Advocate have grown, their content has been watered down to appeal to more readers and advertisers.

"The Advocate and Out are leading examples of how the gay press has become completely commercial and corporate-oriented and entertainment-oriented," lamented Doug Ireland, who has written about the concentration of gay media ownership in The Nation magazine.

"Under the current leadership of that company, both magazines have really not played the kind of role that they once used to as the place within which debates about serious issues and political coverage had the priority," Ireland said. "They're very bland, both of them?'

Judy Wieder, corporate editorial director for both magazines, concedes The Advocate was once "a more activist magazine" but argues it doesn't have to play that role because it's no longer the only outlet for the gay community. "It's a "balanced news magazine," she said.

Wieder recognizes that the magazines will never appeal to everyone in the gay community. While they have proven popular with gay men, for example, Out and The Advocate attract far fewer lesbian readers.