High-minded argument

Several high-profile editors resigned at the New Republic magazine last week after owner Chris Hughes announced he was moving the magazine toward becoming a “vertically integrated digital media company.”  

For many observers, the rebellion signaled not only the demise of TNR but the inevitable eclipse of thoughtful journalism at the hands of media gurus like Hughes, who purportedly value only the number of links clicked and webpages viewed.  Hughes insists that he is still committed to the magazine’s journalistic mission. (He can hardly be blamed for pursuing a more financially viable model for his journal.)

However TNR’s future unfolds, the magazine provokes passionate comment because it has been such an admirable example of political and intellectual argument. More than a few people my age recall the mid-1980s to mid-1990s as the glory years, when each issue was like a fractious and entertaining seminar on the future of liberalism.