Obama campaign bans Ryan Lizza

Those circulation figures identify exactly how no-longer-literate the public is. All right, maybe literate is too strong a word.

But beyond a thousand words, you're losing the vast majority of the American public.

In some circles that count most, the New Yorker retains huge influence.

 

I could not disagree more. The New Yorker is still read by a hell of a lot of people - more than a million subscribers. But the fact is, 4 million subscribe to Newsweek.

If you have 40 spots on the plane, how many magazines are you going to take versus newspaper and TV? I don't think there's any evidence the New Yorker would have made the cut, regardless of the cover.

 

I see it more like a sports beat. If you travel all the time, then you could be a 5,000-circulation weekly, and the ballclub will make sure you're credentialed.

 

Yeah, I'm sure Cosmo, Penthouse, Teen Vogue, Maxim and TV Guide have higher circulations, that doesn't mean they should be on the plane over The New Yorker.

 

Exactly.

 

How were the 40 chosen?

 

Jann Wenner was on his plane, but wrote a go-Obama piece.

 

I can get behind that, but I also don't believe that Lizza travels all the time. Otherwise how would he have the time to go to Chicago and interview Obama's old cronies?

 

Wenner's piece would have made Spinning jealous.

 

Or, in fact, which 40 were on the plane above the New Yorker? Wouldn't there be a list somewhere?

 

That'd be interesting too.

Did the New Yorker lose the seat to one of the anchors from the Big 3 networks?

 

I read RS cover to cover every issue, but I didn't touch that one. I knew exactly what I would have been in for, and wanted no part of it.