The New Statesman

[E10 Rifle]

To complement the Spectator thread, anyone still read this increasingly dull mag?

Not that its left credentials are up to much these days:
http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1067

[Ginger Yellow]

The New Statesman

No, and I haven't for a long, long time. The last good article I can remember was one on IT procurement policy in various countries, from about five years ago. Which says a lot. The UK's political magazine scene is pretty dire.

[Anton Gramscescu]

The New Statesman

I've been a subscriber for about seven years and reader for about fifteen.

I can't tell if it's any worse than it used to be. Its novelty has worn off for me, obviously. I don't really need to read Hunter Davies or John Pilger to know what they have to say. But I always read Darcus Howe and Michaela Wrong.

I preferred it when it had less foreign coverage, to be honest. That allowed it to cover a little more on domestic policy - it had a nice mix of reportage and wonkiness at one point. Which I enjoyed - though I admit my tastes are probably fairly minority ones.

[E10 Rifle]

The New Statesman

It feels a lot more wonky (and wanky) than it used to. Martin Bright's a decent journalist - though I disagree with him a fair bit - and people like Pilger and Wrong are always worth reading, but it lacks both flair and a bit of spiky impassioned zeal. As a result it's not that clear what its target market really is now.

[Anton Gramscescu]

The New Statesman

But surely, spiky impassioned zeal is difficult to sustain when your lot's in government? A spell in opposition would do them good, wouldn't it?

[Errorist Sympathiser]

The New Statesman

As a fairly new reader (last 3 or 4 years), it seems to me that they've lost their way a little even in that time. Every time they try to reach out to the left it seems they're slapped back by the centre-right establishment in the Labour Party and the magazine's hierarchy. Under Kampfner there were some genuinely exact moments, but since the relaunch and change of editor it's become a magazine in search of a mission. Last week's issue even carried an ad for the pro-flight lobby...

[E10 Rifle]

The New Statesman

Yeah, Kampfner's a good journalist. And I think it's possible to be spiky while your party's in government. The NS was never a mouthpiece for the Labour leadership during the long years of opposition.

[Anton Gramscescu]

The New Statesman

No, as I recall it was a bit of an ideas forum back then - much more of a place for debate over future policy than it has been the last few years. But I also seem to recall that MPs themselves were more engaged in the debate - something that is much more difficult to do when in government. The inability of the Labour Party itself to have much in the way of honest debate is presumably part of the problem.

[steveeeeeeeee]

The New Statesman

I've been a subscriber for the past year and a half and enjoy reading it. My biggest complaint is the amount of regular contributors who just write complete toss, like Zoe Williams and Hunter Davies. I also have no interest in power struggles of the Labour Party, even though I guess that's what the magazine is sort of all about. I also don't like the amount of soundbite articles it has, 10 things to do to keep your job, 8 pieces of advice for Obama, that kind of stuff that is increasingly more common.

Take that all away and you've got a decent magazine in my opinion, there's always at least one or two interesting big pieces (I liked the piece about the guy who produces chocolate in São Tomé).

It's not my favourite magazine but it's the best thing I know providing that kind of service.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The New Statesman

Zoe Williams is good.

[Ginger Yellow]

The New Statesman

It's not my favourite magazine but it's the best thing I know providing that kind of service.

One of the reasons I find the mag intolerable is that its US counterparts are far, far better. My pet theory is that this is because of the dire quality (and restricted range) of political discourse on TV and in newspapers over there, but it doesn't really matter why.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The New Statesman

Brian Cathcart is good as well.

[NHH]

The New Statesman

I don't read it, but since Jason Cowley edits it, I imagine its a fucking abomination given the complete cavalcade of cuntishness that his Observer Sports Monthly was.

A friend went for deputy editor under Cowley at OSM; he was asked to come up with eight ideas for stories as part of his interview. He didn't get the job, but four of the ideas appeared in subsequent months. He seems like a classic twat appointment by someone like Roger 'Cunt' Alton, like giving Jasper Gerrard a gig.

[Ray de Galles]

The New Statesman

That's where Cowley has turned up now?

That cunt tried to defend the absolute butchering (including completely inventing 50% of the text) of a letter of mine published in OSM because "we thought it's the kind of thing you were trying to say".

[Guest]

The New Statesman

Zoe Williams is a terrible writer.

Is there seriously a journalist named Michaela Wrong?

[Anton Gramscescu]

The New Statesman

Yes and she's consistently the best writer on Africa anywhere. She's written two superb books, one on Eritrea ("I Didn't Do It For You") and one on the Congo ("In the Footsteps of Dr. Kurtz").

What American counterparts?

[Banana Banana]

The New Statesman

I was really pissed off with its tirade against Oxfam during the Make Poverty History campaign.

[Duncan Gardner]

The New Statesman

vennegoor strokes wrote:

Zoe Williams is a terrible writer

How/ why exactly? I quite like her mother and toddler column.

[Ray de Galles]

The New Statesman

That column is brilliant and her other articles are generally good, what's the problem with her?

[Guest]

The New Statesman

She's self-absorbed to the point of self-parody.

[Ray de Galles]

The New Statesman

In all of her work?

[Guest]

The New Statesman

Most of the time, yes.

I'm thankful it's not me who has the job of editing her solipsistic ramblings. It's a pity SR doesn't post here any more, he had a great rant about her on the old board.

[Duncan Gardner]

The New Statesman

Admittedly I can't think offhand of anything she's written bar lifestyle columns, but maybe self-absorption might be understandable in a mother-toddler column. She can hardly turn it into sparkling dialogue.

[steveeeeeeeee]

The New Statesman

I couldn't stand her when she wrote for The Evening Standard and have a very hard time with her stuff in NE. Like vennegoor says, self-obsessed and flag-wavingly proud of her own ignorance on any subject that doesn't involve her or the middle to upper class social circles she mixes with in London.

[Guest]

The New Statesman

Duncan, I've never read the mother/child column, I'm talking about the opinion pieces she wrote about various subjects.