Dr. Frank's What's-it

Marketing the Left "Left-Wingers Fall

Marketing the Left

"Left-Wingers Fall out over Claims of Censorship." The New Statesman and the London Review of Books have been refusing to publish anything other than anti-American content, according to this article in the Telegraph. Well, we knew that already, didn't we?

The state of British left-wing journalism is pretty much summed up by this:

In the current issue, one columnist offers his New Statesman earnings to anyone who will kill President Bush though, given the notorious stinginess of the magazine's payments, that is unlikely to prove a tempting offer.

Let me be the first to say: damned sophisticated.

The New Statesman bills itself as "the weekly magazine for bright thinking people everywhere." And psychotic freaks, too. (No they don't say that-- it's just implied by the content.)

Anyway, "Britain's premier current affairs magazine" declined to publish a critical letter from its own former editor and contributor John Lloyd, and has offered this remarkable explanation for its anti-American editorial policy:

[current editor and marketing genius] Mr Wilby said he had taken a policy decision that the magazine would vigorously oppose the "war on terrorism", partly to make itself distinctive in a crowded media market. He said there was also a clear commercial logic to his magazine's editorial line, as circulation had surged by almost 25 per cent since September 11.

But I don't know if we can attribute this spectacular success to anti-Americanism alone. It may have had something to do with the anti-Semitism, too. And let's not forget the Milosevic vote-- sucking up to Slobo ought to be good for selling a few copies.

Here's a tip, if you're serious about increasing that circulation, Mr. Wilby: naked ladies. Works every time, even better than anti-Americanism. Trust me.

Posted by Dr. Frank at March 4, 2002 11:25 PM | TrackBack