Re: Replacing _The Nation_? was: Re: The Nation Magazine's tainted liberalism

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

At 4:28 PM -0500 3/1/03, Louis Proyect wrote:
> > (c) Is there some existing entity, Counterpunch for example (on
> > conflict-of-interest grounds I am not mentioning swans.com), that could be
> > 'boosted' into a more prominent role?  Or would it be better to start fresh?
>
> Counterpunch and swans.com are both good, but what I have in mind is
> something that would feature on-the-spot coverage from activists
> like Jon Flanders in the Albany trade union movement or Derek
> Seidman from the student movement. Counterpunch and swans.com are
> more like the equivalent of a journal of opinion rather than an
> activist-oriented "what is to be done" forum.

_War Times_'s target audience, Max Elbaum says, is "soft supporters"
of the anti-war movement.  It would be great to have a clearly
left-wing (weekly or biweekly or even monthly) journal that
specifically targets "principled participants" in the movement,
especially its "organic intellectuals" (those who often function as
activist intellectuals/informal leaders/trend-setters in their own
local areas, who may or may not be Marxists -- more likely
non-Marxists -- but are not averse to Marxist analysis and may
welcome creative introduction to it).  In other words, a publication
that aims for a layer of readership between readers of _War Times_
and those of _Monthly Review_ and the like, with an analysis more in
depth than what _Z Magazine_ or _Counterpunch_ can provide, with
politics much to the left of _The Nation_, etc.  This is the layer of
readership in the anti-war movement that first needs to be won to
theory and practice against capitalism and imperialism, not just
against _this_ war (provided that the anti-war movement won't fizzle
out when the war on Iraq begins).

At 4:28 PM -0500 3/1/03, Louis Proyect wrote:
> In fact I am talking exactly about something like the old Guardian.

I'd like a daily in print, but I'm not sure if there's enough startup
capital on the left for that, unless maybe Henry can put together a
group of left-wing investors or something.

At 4:28 PM -0500 3/1/03, Louis Proyect wrote:
> > (e) How important is the paper side of it all?
>
> I think it could be web-based, as long as there is an Acrobat
> version that can be used to print multiple copies for people who
> don't have computers.

Considering how much time it may take to make many copies, I'd prefer
magazines in print, though it would cost a lot more in distribution.
It would be great if we could make a kind of socialist alliance, fold
existing socialist news weeklies in print, pool the money, and get
one spiffy weekly out.
--
Yoshie

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