Allegedly, the new daily New York paper, the New York Sun, debuted yesterday (the 16th of April 2002 for those of you reading this in the 23rd century), but I couldn't find one to save my life. At none of five or six newsstands within ten blocks of my office was this journalistic endeavor available for purchase. Has anyone actually seen a copy? Bought one? Read it? Is it as conservative as it would appear to be, given its staff? Building on that straw man, why is it that adding the Sun will make three conservative dailies in New York. (What's the leaning of New York Newsday, back after a multi-year hiatus?) How is it that the growing media seem to be rightist? (Does anybody have any reliable stats correlating audience growth and political leanings?) And if there used to be a liberal media bias that didn't reflect the views of the majority of the country, does this mean that a dominant conservative voice in the print media masks a predominant leftist spirit among the populace?
| New York City |
I was able to purchase a copy from the news vendor on 8th Ave I pass on my way to the subway. I've been reading smartertimes.com for a while, so I picked up a Sun to see what all the hoo-hah was about.
Actually, it wasn't too bad. Human interest stories included the 3,000 mile long ant colony in Spain, an article on flat panel displays, a love letter to the Rolodex, and an interview with the proprieter of the Upper Breast Side (where Debbie shops for various breast-feeding paraphenelia.) On the political side, a bunch of articles on welfare reform (will Hillary? will Mike?), an interview with Lech Walsea (by Peggy Noonan), and an article on how we shouldn't muck up the Iraq invasion. James Wilson was on the editorial page, saying that "broken windows" is still a good idea.
In all? It reads more like a conservative Observer than a conservative Times, but I would leave that up to Matt to call. Seems more intelligent than the tabloids, but sadly lacks their trashy delights. I wouldn't subscribe but I might pick it up now and again. I think I'm getting more conservative in my old age -- a side effect of parenthood?
I'd guess that what's behind the upsurge in right-wing journalism (on both newsprint and airwaves) is simply the concept of segmentation: if the established media is left-wing (I'd call it pretty darn centrist, myself), and dominant (which it is) then you're going to get your butt handed to you if you try to go head-to-head. So instead you try to carve out the niche that is most dissatisfied with the current product.
My understanding is that the Sun is going to target a slightly richer group of conservatives than the Post--which also makes sense if you're looking for advertising. What I'm guessing is that they're trying to make it the second newspaper for NYC's Wall Street Journal subscribers, a bunch of whom probably also subscribe to the Times or the Observer to get local news, but don't much like either one. Seth Lipsky was a former WSJ hand, right?
