Suits enwrap short-lived U.S. newspaper magazine supplement RiseUp

About a year ago we wrote about the forthcoming June launch of a "curious new magazine" called RiseUp that intended to distribute 4 million copies through insertion in various newspapers across the U.S. and address relations between races.

And, if the publisher's ambitions are to be believed, by the first quarter of 2009, circulation will be 8 million this fall and could be as high as 12 million in the top 15-25 cities in the country by the first quarter of 2009.

The whole thing seemed unlikely but, keyed as it was to the possibility of Barack Obama becoming president, there was a certain giddy charm to the idea, even if the economics didn't make much sense.

Well, it turned out that scepticism was warranted as it was reported by Folio: that the Kansas City Star newspaper company that printed the magazine is suing for $2.2 million and that the magazine had quietly suspended operations last August.

The Star filed a counterclaim in Ray County, Missouri Circuit Court Tuesday in response to a petition filed in February by RiseUp parent company Ellis Management Marketing Group. The petition claimed that EMMG, as well as its president and CEO Janice Ellis and her husband E. Frank Ellis, should not be held accountable under the printing and distribution agreements it signed last summer with the Star.

In its countersuit, the Star said it began attempting to collect payments for its services on July 14 last year. On September 3, the paper said it delivered a “demand” letter to EMMG but no payments were received.