Yesterday I wrote that some magazines still occupy a revered cultural space, something that might let them survive the Internet revolution. Many “high quality” magazines lose money anyway, but somehow go on year after year, supported by family largesse, foundations, and more profitable sister publications.
The New Yorker would have to be number one on this list. However, like many dead-tree publications it still hoards its subscriber-only, print-centric exclusivity. It has been improving: more of the weekly magazine’s content is being made available online, and some of its best writers, including Hendrik Hertzberg and George Packer, now blog. Huzzah! If you want the whole New Yorker experience online, with the benefits of the Internet (such as links) you’re still out of luck. I discovered this when I tried to find a great piece by Ian Frazier in this week’s (Dec. 8 ) edition. Frazier profiles Derrick Parker, an ex-NYPD detective known as the “hip-hop cop.” For many years, he was the department’s reigning expert on the world of hip-hop. Now a security consultant, Parker is one of the great profile subjects – colorful, talkative, with an entree to a fascinating subculture.
In one vivid and hilarious scene, Frazier accompanies Parker as he vets would-be attendees at a birthday party for a rapper at an exclusive club. Now, I’d like to quote this briefly and link to it, but alas, no dice. The piece is not available to non-subscribers online. It is available to subscribers of the magazine’s “digital edition,” which is a kind of glorified pdf reader that reproduces the physical magazine on your screen. Here’s the link to the piece, if you’re a subscriber. Navigation is cumbersome, requiring zooming in and scrolling around to get through the columns/photos/pages – which, of course, are not designed for a computer screen in the first place.
Some magazines, such as the Atlantic, have embraced the Internet and leveraged their cultural cachet effectively in the new arena. The New Yorker still has a ways to go.
