VITAMEDIAS
A Serious Shift in Readers' Interests
Of all the unexpected events since Sept. 11, one of the more unexpected has been the resurgence of America's serious, general interest magazines. Less than a decade ago, savvy media analysts routinely questioned not only the relevance, but also the longevity of the Atlantic Monthly, Harper's and the New Yorker. They were dinosaurs, quaint artifacts of the unwired universe, of the dead epoch that began with movable type and involved such plodding occupations as reading.
Today, circulation at all three publications is up and - more important -under editors Michael Kelly and Cullen Murphy of the Atlantic, Lewis Lapham of Harper's and David Remnick of the New Yorker, the journalism, commentary and cultural criticism in all three have taken on a renewed confidence, vigor and immediacy.