Giant – a magazine that seemed to have more shifts in focus, design and mission than issues in its relatively brief lifespan – has folded [1].

Its current publisher, Radio One, said Monday that the Giant [2] brand will continue online as GiantLife.com. Radio One also owns BlackPlanet.com. Its final print issue – scheduled to be published on December 15 – will be its last.

“The economic downturn has had a tremendous impact on print media and we had to make the decision to suspend printing the publication,” Tom Newman, president of Radio One's Interactive One division, said in a statement.

In the past year, the magazine – which had a circulation of about 300,000 -- has been the subject of numerous sale and closure rumors – including one that seemed to have originated from a rival, XXL [3].

Radio One acquired Giant in 2007 for a reported $275,000 [4] -- a number that seems puny, until you consider what other magazines, like TV Guide ($1.00 plus debt), have sold for recently.

Giant founder Jamie Hooper launched the publication as a general men’s interest title in 2004 with a $10 million investment from his venture-capitalist father-in-law Mort Myerson.