Peter Bart: The New Yorker’s Opening Was A Flop, But Magazine’s Centenary Is A Study In Survival
deadline.comThe “opening” was a disaster. The creators were bitterly feuding. Half the funding pulled out with much of the rest lost in a poker game.
It was all very cinematic, but at stake was the future of a great magazine, not a movie. The opening marked the debut of The New Yorker, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this week at a moment that is not propitious for either magazines or movies.
Magazines have been folding at an alarming rate. Support for once-revered titles like Newsweek or Time or for corporate parents like Condé Nast teeters ominously.
Even Donald Trump last week asked “is Time still in business?” after Elon Musk hovered on its Trump cover. Despite layoffs, The New Yorker with its 1.23 million subscribers is itself a study in survival, as a forthcoming Netflix documentary will testify.
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