THE ATLANTIC BIG UPS THE ECONOMIST
The Newsweekly’s Last Stand - The Atlantic
(July/August 2009)
This piece, by Michael Hirschorn, raises some intriguing points about how a print magazine can still thrive in a day where we presume the internet has all but rendered the newsstand to an anachronism. In particular, he tries to explain what The Economist has done well enough that once giant weeklies like Time and Newsweek are now copying the same format. Even if you have no interest in the magazine, Hirschorn's analysis here is worth considering especially because it argues the basic point that good content still matters - it's not just about speed or spectacle.
Personally, I'm a fan of the mag though I only kept my subscription about a year or so. That wasn't for any lack of interest in the mag; it was a time issue. I simply didn't have enough hours in the week to stay on top of the publications I already read and since so much of The Economist is dedicated to business news, it seemed like an excessive expense. That said, I always valued its efficiency in trying to parse complex national and global issues and despite having a clear right-bent with its free market embrace, on most social issues, the magazine is far more left than many might assume. Their coverage of immigration issues, for example, are especially strong, as have been analyses of developments around race, class and real estate.
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