I think most of the opinion magazines operate on profit margins ranging from slim to negative and are at least partially reliant on the kindness of wealthy owners or public grants. National Review has William F. Buckley, The Weekly Standard is the pet project of the Kristol family, The American Prospectgot bailed out by Bill Moyers a couple years back, Harper's has had a several near-death experience, Paul Newman and Robert Redford are co-owners of The Nation, and gazillionaire Mort Zuckermain bailed out The Atlantic Monthly from a severe deficit. Even the popular market is awfully tough -- just ask Oprah or Rosie, or the people who used to run Jane and Sassy.
All of the opinion mags above target roughly the same demographic as Salon (if not necessarily the same ideologies), and all have equivalent- or higher-quality writing, established reputations, and an existing subscriber base to draw from. The surprising thing is that anyone ever thought Salon's business model would surpass them.
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I think most of the opinion magazines operate on profit margins ranging from slim to negative and are at least partially reliant on the kindness of wealthy owners or public grants. National Review has William F. Buckley, The Weekly Standard is the pet project of the Kristol family, The American Prospect got bailed out by Bill Moyers a couple years back, Harper's has had a several near-death experience, Paul Newman and Robert Redford are co-owners of The Nation, and gazillionaire Mort Zuckermain bailed out The Atlantic Monthly from a severe deficit. Even the popular market is awfully tough -- just ask Oprah or Rosie, or the people who used to run Jane and Sassy.
All of the opinion mags above target roughly the same demographic as Salon (if not necessarily the same ideologies), and all have equivalent- or higher-quality writing, established reputations, and an existing subscriber base to draw from. The surprising thing is that anyone ever thought Salon's business model would surpass them.