06/23/2009 11:37:24 AM 
(2) 
(2) The Economist is the one shining ray of light that everyone now wants to emulate, but The Atlantic does not believe this is possible because The Economist possess one thing these other titles lack.
"The secret to The Economist’s success is not its brilliance, or its hauteur, or its typeface. The writing in Time and Newsweek may be every bit as smart, as assured, as the writing in The Economist. But neither one feels like the only magazine you need to read. You may like the new Time and Newsweek. But you must—or at least, brilliant marketing has convinced you that you must—subscribe to The Economist. "
In the end, it's all about the brand.
Posted by Ed Cotton
POV
The secret to The Economist is that they have a point-of-view. The American pubs try to be middle-of-the-aisle and end up middle of the road. The Economist is unabashedly corporatist and jauntily right of center. It fully describes events within that worldview, which is useful whether or not you agree with it. But yeah, the marketing helps, too.
Posted by Alexis Madrigal on 06/23/2009 07:27 PM
The secret to The Economist is that they have a point-of-view. The American pubs try to be middle-of-the-aisle and end up middle of the road. The Economist is unabashedly corporatist and jauntily right of center. It fully describes events within that worldview, which is useful whether or not you agree with it. But yeah, the marketing helps, too.
Posted by Alexis Madrigal on 06/23/2009 07:27 PM
It appears you don't have Flash installed.
have to disagree with the atlantic on this one on this one - time and newsweek rarely cover world news from an economic frame and often skew towards pop-culture subject matter. as an economist subscriber, i pay for it because of the breadth of the reporting. while there is a brand there, it's based on the quality of the product.