National Journal's obituary is a dang fine read. Closing time for a publication that's been a D.C. fixture since 1969. (link)
Posted by
ML (aka Iadodger)
Dec 11 '15, 15:33
|
"But mostly, I think the magazine’s position deteriorated because the market for its core product eroded as our political system has grown more rigidly partisan. Fewer elected officials now follow the sequence of gathering objective information and then reaching a decision; usually they follow ideological or partisan signals to reach decisions and then seek talking points to support them. With that change, Washington reporting has evolved further toward sports reporting that partisans consult mainly to see whether their side is “winning” each day’s competition. NJ could never entirely compete in that world.
No publication is entitled to permanent life, and National Journal magazine had a good run. (A daily newsletter and website will survive.) The real loss is the ideal it embodied: the belief that our collective choices should be based more on rigorous evidence than on partisan preferences. The political debate is now driven by antagonists who increasingly operate, despite Moynihan’s warning, not only with different opinions but also with different facts. The price of that change extends far beyond the demise of the worthy magazine that is publishing its last words today."
|
Responses:
|