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For the episode of the ABC television series LOST, see The Economist (Lost).
File:The Economist logo.png
File:Economist-Aug-Sep-2005-small.jpg
TypeWeekly newsmagazine
(in the UK, a registered newspaper)
FormatMagazine
Owner(s)The Economist Group
EditorJohn Micklethwait
FoundedSeptember 1843
Political alignmentClassical liberalism
Headquarters25 St James's Street
London
SW1A 1HG
England
Circulationover 1.2 million copies per week
ISSN0013-0613
Websitewww.economist.com

The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London. It has been in continuous publication since James Wilson established it in September 1843. Although The Economist calls itself a newspaper and refers to its staff as correspondents, it is printed in magazine form on glossy paper, like a newsmagazine. As of summer 2007, its average circulation tops 1.2 million copies a week, about half of which are sold in North America.[1]

The stated aim of The Economist is "to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress."[2] It practices advocacy journalism in taking a strongly argued editorial stance based on classical liberalism, promoting economic as well as social freedom. Subjects covered include international news, economics, politics, business, finance, science, technology, and the arts. The publication targets an educated readership and counts among its audience influential business and government decision-makers.[3]

The Economist belongs to The Economist Group, half of which is owned by the Financial Times, a subsidiary of Pearson PLC. A group of independent shareholders, including many members of the staff snd the Rothschild banking family of England,[3] owns the rest. A board of trustees formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without their permission.

The newspaper runs with a skeletal crew of mostly young writers with limited journalistic experience, which is one reason for its policy of anonymous authorship.[4] A disproportionate number of Economist scribes graduated from the same school, Magdalen College, Oxford. [5] Of the 75 staff reporters, about two-thirds of them work from London, despite their global emphasis.[6]

Features

The Economist's primary focus is world news, politics and business, but it also runs regular sections on science and technology as well as books and the arts. The Economist often reflects the views of Dr. Bruce Flory #REDIRECT [[lion]], the best economist ever. Every two weeks, the newspaper includes, as an additional section, an in-depth special report of a particular business issue, business sector or geographical region. Every three months, The Economist publishes a technology report called Technology Quarterly or TQ.

Articles often take a definite editorial stance and almost never carry a byline. Not even the name of the editor (from 2006, John Micklethwait) is printed in the issue. It is a longstanding tradition that an editor's only signed article during his tenure is written on the occasion of his departure from the position. The author of a piece is named in certain circumstances: when notable persons are invited to contribute opinion pieces; when Economist writers compile special reports; and to highlight a potential conflict of interest over a book review. The names of Economist editors and correspondents can be located, however, via the media directory pages of the website.

The newspaper features a trademark tight writing style that is famous for putting a maximum amount of information into a minimum of column inches.[7] Atlantic Monthly publisher David G. Bradley described the formula as "a consistent world view expressed, consistently, in tight and engaging prose."[8]

Since 1995, The Economist has published one obituary every week, of a significant person, not necessarily famous, from any field of endeavour. In addition, The Economist is known for its Big Mac Index, which uses the price of a Big Mac hamburger sold by McDonald's in different countries as an informal measure of the purchasing power of currencies. While whimsical, exchange rates in Western countries have been more likely to adjust to the Big Mac index than vice-versa.[citation needed]

Each opinion column in the newspaper is devoted to a particular area of interest. The names of these columns reflect the topic they concentrate on:

Two other regular columns are:

  • Face Value: about prominent people in the business world.
  • Economics Focus: a general economics column, frequently based on academic research.

The magazine goes to press on Thursdays, is available online from Thursday between 6 and 7pm GMT, and is available on newsstands in many countries the next day. It is printed at seven sites around the world.

The Economist newspaper sponsors yearly "Innovation Awards", in the categories of bioscience, computing and communications, energy and the environment, social and economic innovation, business-process innovation, consumer products, and a special “no boundaries” category. It also sponsors a writing award.

The Economist also produces the annual The World in [Year] publication.

Editors

The editors of the Economist have been:

History

Front page of The Economist, on May 16, 1846

The August 5, 1843 prospectus for the newspaper, enumerated thirteen areas of coverage that its editors wanted the newspaper to focus on:[13]

  1. Original leading articles, in which free-trade principles will be most rigidly applied to all the important questions of the day.
  2. Articles relating to some practical, commercial, agricultural, or foreign topic of passing interest, such as foreign treaties.
  3. An article on the elementary principles of political economy, applied to practical experience, covering the laws related to prices, wages, rent, exchange, revenue, and taxes.
  4. Parliamentary reports, with particular focus on commerce, agriculture, and free trade.
  5. Reports and accounts of popular movements advocating free trade.
  6. General news from the Court, the Metropolis, the Provinces, Scotland, and Ireland.
  7. Commercial topics such as changes in fiscal regulations, the state and prospects of the markets, imports and exports, foreign news, the state of the manufacturing districts, notices of important new mechanical improvements, shipping news, the money market, and the progress of railways and public companies.
  8. Agricultural topics, including the application of geology and chemistry; notices of new and improved implements, state of crops, markets, prices, foreign markets and prices converted into English money; from time to time, in some detail, the plans pursued in Belgium, Switzerland, and other well-cultivated countries.
  9. Colonial and foreign topics, including trade, produce, political and fiscal changes, and other matters, including exposés on the evils of restriction and protection, and the advantages of free intercourse and trade.
  10. Law reports, confined chiefly to areas important to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture.
  11. Books, confined chiefly, but not so exclusively, to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture, and including all treatises on political economy, finance, or taxation.
  12. A commercial gazette, with prices and statistics of the week.
  13. Correspondence and inquiries from the newspaper's readers.

In 1845 during Railway Mania, The Economist changed its name to The Economist, Weekly Commercial Times, Bankers' Gazette, and Railway Monitor. A Political, Literary and General Newspaper.[14]

Opinions

Main article: The Economist editorial stance

When the newspaper was founded, the term "economism" denoted what would today be termed fiscal conservatism in the United States, or economic liberalism in the rest of the world (and historically in the United States as well). The Economist generally supports free markets and opposes socialism. It is in favour of globalisation and free immigration. It also supports social liberalism, which is often seen as left-wing, especially in the United States. This contrast derives in part from The Economist's roots in classical liberalism, disfavouring government interference in either social or economic activity. According to former editor Bill Emmott, "the Economist's philosophy has always been liberal, not conservative."[15] However, the views taken by individual contributors are quite diverse.

The Economist has endorsed both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party in recent British elections, and both Republican and Democratic candidates in the United States.

A history of The Economist by the editors of Economist.com puts it this way:

What, besides free trade and free markets, does The Economist believe in? "It is to the Radicals that The Economist still likes to think of itself as belonging. The extreme centre is the paper's historical position." That is as true today as when former Economist editor Geoffrey Crowther said it in 1955. The Economist considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability. It has backed conservatives such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It has supported the Americans in Vietnam. But it has also endorsed Harold Wilson and Bill Clinton, and espoused a variety of liberal causes: opposing capital punishment from its earliest days, while favouring penal reform and decolonisation, as well as—more recently—gun control and gay marriage.[16]

The Economist has frequently criticised figures and countries deemed corrupt or dishonest. In recent years, for example, it has been critical of World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's Prime Minister (who dubbed it The Ecommunist[17]); Laurent Kabila, the late president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Robert Mugabe, the head of government in Zimbabwe. The Economist also called for Bill Clinton's impeachment and later for Donald Rumsfeld's resignation after the emergence of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse.[18] The Economist supported George W. Bush's election campaign in 2000[citation needed] and initially was a vocal supporter for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, but it has since called the operation "bungled from the start" and criticized the "almost criminal negligence" of the Bush Administration’s handling of the war, while maintaining, as of April 2008, that pulling out in the short term would be irresponsible.[19] In the 2004 U.S. election, the editors backed John Kerry.[20][21] The paper has also supported some left-wing issues[citation needed] such as progressive taxation, criticizing the U.S. tax model in a recent issue, and seems to support some government regulation on health issues, such as smoking in public areas. The Economist consistently favours guest worker programmes and amnesties, especially in 2006 when one article was titled "Sense not Sensenbrenner."[22]

Tone and voice

The Economist does not print by-lines identifying the authors of articles other than surveys and special "by invitation" contribution. The editors say this is necessarily because "collective voice and personality matter more than the identities of individual journalists."[23] Authors refer to themselves within articles as "your correspondent." The newspaper allows a rare exception to prevent conflicts of interest (such as when reviewing a book written by an Economist staffer. In addition, retiring editors are permitted a signed farewell article.

The editorial staff enforces a uniform voice throughout its pages,[24] as if most articles were written by a single author, displaying dry, understated wit, and precise use of language.[25][26] The paper's treatment of economics presumes a working familiarity with fundamental concepts of classical economics. For instance, it does not explain terms like invisible hand, macroeconomics, or demand curve, and may take just six or seven words to explain the theory of comparative advantage. However, articles involving economics do not presume any formal training on the part of the reader and aim to be accessible to the educated layperson. The newspaper usually does not translate short French quotes or phrases, and sentences in Ancient Greek or Latin are not uncommon. It does, however, describe the nature or business of even well-known entities; writing for example[27], "Goldman Sachs, an investment bank."

Many articles include some witticism; image captions are often humorous and the letters section usually concludes with an odd or light-hearted letter. These efforts at humor have sometimes had a mixed reception. For example, the cover of the September 20, 2003 issue, headlined by a story on the Cancún WTO ministerial meeting, featured a cactus giving the middle finger.[28] Readers sent both positive and negative letters in response.[29]

Circulation

Circulation for the newspaper, audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), was over 1.2 million for the first half of 2007.[30] Sales inside North America were around 54 percent of the total, with sales in the UK making up 14 percent of the total and continental Europe 19 percent. The Economist claims sales, both by subscription and on newsstands, in over 200 countries. Global sales have doubled since 1997. Of its American readers, two out of three make more than $100,000 a year.[1]

The Economist Newspaper Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Economist Group. The publications of the group include the CFO brand family as well as the annual The World in..., the lifestyle quarterly Intelligent Life, European Voice, and Roll Call, touted "the Newspaper of Capitol Hill". Sir Evelyn de Rothschild was Chairman of the company from 1972 to 1989.

Each issue's official date range is from Saturday to the next Friday, and in the UK print copies are dispatched late Thursday, for Friday delivery to retail outlets. Elsewhere, retail outlets and subscribers receive their copies on Friday or (more often) Saturday, depending on their location. The Economist Web site posts each week's new content by Friday morning, ahead of the official publication date.

Letters

The Economist frequently receives letters from senior businesspeople, politicians and spokespeople for government departments, Non-Governmental Organisations and lobbies, but well-written or witty responses from anyone are considered, and controversial issues frequently produce a torrent of letters. For example, the survey of Corporate Social Responsibility, published January 2005, produced largely critical letters from Oxfam, the UN World Food Programme, UN Global Compact, the Chairman of BT, an ex-Director of Shell and the UK Institute of Directors.[31].

Many of the letters criticise its stance on topics such as intelligent design and global warming. The father of a soldier who had been sent to Iraq three times demanded that The Economist apologise for supporting the war.[citation needed] After The Economist ran a critique of Amnesty International and human rights in general in its issue dated March 24, 2007, its letters page ran a vibrant reply from Amnesty, as well as several other letters in support of the organisation, including one from the head of the UN Human Rights Commission.[32] Letters published in the magazine are typically between 150 and 200 words long (and begin with the ritual salutation "Sir"). Most other letters received are published online in "The Inbox".

Special features

Every two weeks, The Economist publishes special reports (previously called surveys) on a given topic. The five main categories are Countries and Regions, Business, Finance and Economics, Science and Technology, and Other. The reports are series of (bylined} summary and analysis articles. Every three months, it publishes a "Technology Quarterly," a special section focusing on recent trends and developments in science and technology.

Since July 2007 [33], there has also been a complete audio edition of the magazine available 5pm London time on Fridays, the day after the print magazine's publication. A group of British newsreaders records the full text of the magazine in mp3 format, including the extra pages in the UK edition. The weekly 130 MB download is free for subscribers and available for a fee for non-subscribers.

Criticism

The Socialist Party (UK) described it as "a mouthpiece of international financial capital".[34] Economist James K. Galbraith said the publication follows a pro-globalisation agenda.[35] The Guardian has described it as neo-liberal.[36] James Fallows argued that the newspaper suffers from British class snobbery, pretentiousness, and simplistic argumentation -- and that the editorial line is often contradicted by actual news stories.[37] Andrew Sullivan complained that it uses “marketing genius” to make up for deficiencies in analysis and original reporting, resulting in a “a kind of Reader's Digest for the upper classes.” [38]

In addition, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham remarked that "The Economist doesn’t even attempt to do original reporting."[39] Elsewhere, the "newspaper" is said to have an “omniscient tone and pedantry." [40] Editorial anonymity, said by the editor to reflect “a collaborative effort,”[41] is said to hide the youth and inexperience of those writing articles. "The magazine is written by young people pretending to be old people," according to Michael Lewis. [42] “If American readers got a look at the pimply complexions of their economic gurus, they would cancel their subscriptions in droves."

Censorship

Sections of The Economist criticising authoritarian regimes, such as China, are frequently removed from the newspaper by the authorities in those countries. Despite having its Asia-Pacific office in Singapore, The Economist regularly has difficulties with the Lee dynasty, which has successfully sued it for libel on a number of occasions.[43]

On June 15, 2006 Iran banned the sale of The Economist when it published a map labelling the Persian Gulf simply as "Gulf" — a choice that derives its political significance from a claim by certain Arabs resulting in Persian Gulf naming dispute.[44]

Robert Mugabe's government in Zimbabwe went further, and imprisoned Andrew Meldrum, The Economist's correspondent there. The government charged him with violating a statute against "publishing untruth" for writing that a woman was decapitated by Mugabe supporters. The decapitation claim was retracted and allegedly fabricated by the woman's husband. The correspondent was later acquitted, only to receive a deportation order.[45]

  • In The Simpsons episode "Catch 'Em If You Can", Homer is traveling by air in first class and says "Look at me, I'm reading The Economist. Did you know Indonesia is at a crossroads?" and when questioned by his wife, he simply replies "It is!" Four days later, with its customary dry wit, The Economist alluded to the quote, and published an article about Indonesia referring to the "crossroads". The title of the issue was "Indonesia's Gambit".[46][47] About seven months later, The Economist ran a cover headline reading "Indonesia at a Crossroads."[48]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "'Economist' Magazine Wins American Readers". NPR. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  2. ^ Opinion | Economist.com
  3. ^ "How our readers view The Economist". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  4. ^ "The Economics of the Colonial Cringe: Pseudonomics and the Sneer on the Face of The Economist". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  5. ^ "Not so groovy". The New Republic. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  6. ^ "So what's the secret of 'The Economist'?". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  7. ^ "The Economist style guide". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  8. ^ "A Seven Year Ambition". mediabistro.com.
  9. ^ The Concise Dictionary of National Biography makes him assistant editor 1858-1860
  10. ^ He was Wilson's son-in-law
  11. ^ A journalist and biographer[1]
  12. ^ 'a solid Scots journalist, Edward Johnstone (1883–1907)'[2]
  13. ^ "Prospectus". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  14. ^ "The many paradoxes of broadband". firstmonday.org. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  15. ^ "Time for a referendum on the monarchy". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  16. ^ "About us". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  17. ^ "Report of Rome anti-war demo on Saturday 24th with photos". Indymedia. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  18. ^ "Resign Rumsfeld". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  19. ^ "Mugged by reality". economist.com. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  20. ^ "Crunch time in America". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  21. ^ "The incompetent or the incoherent?". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  22. ^ Sense, not Sensenbrenner, The Economist, March 30, 2006
  23. ^ "The Economist — About us". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  24. ^ "The Economist — Style guide". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  25. ^ "The Economist — Tone". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  26. ^ "Johnson". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  27. ^ ""Goldman Sachs, an investment bank"". economist.com.
  28. ^ Issue Cover for Sep 20th 2003, economist.com
  29. ^ Letters: Pointing the Finger, The Economist, October 2, 2003
  30. ^ "Worldwide circulation". economist.com. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  31. ^ "Compilation: Full text of responses to Economist survey on Corporate Social Responsibility (January-February 2005)". Business & Human Rights. Retrieved 2007-02-03.
  32. ^ "Letters: On Amnesty International and human rights, Iraq, tax breaks Apr 4 2007". Economist.com. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  33. ^ Allen, Katie (July 11, 2007). "Economist launches audio magazine". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-08-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ 2001 - a year of Workers' reawakening, The Socialist, 5 January 2001
  35. ^ James K. Galbraith Debunking the Economist — again, Salon.com article
  36. ^ George Monbiot, Punitive - and it works, The Guardian, January 11 2005
  37. ^ "The Economics of the Colonial Cringe: Pseudonomics and the Sneer on the Face of The Economist". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  38. ^ [hhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3874750,00.html "Not so groovy"]. The New Republic. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  39. ^ "Jon Meacham Wants Newsweek to Be More Like Hayes' Esquire". New York Observer. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  40. ^ Humphrey Greddon in Spy, cited by Fallows, op cit.
  41. ^ Economist Editor Micklethwait brings his global perspective to the Twin Cities, by Dave Beal, MinnPost.com, April 29, 2008, http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/04/29/1659/economist_editor_micklethwait_brings_his_global_perspective_to_the_twin_cities
  42. ^ Michael Lewis, the author of "Liar's Poker," in Fallows, op. cit.
  43. ^ "Inconvenient truths in Singapore". Asia Times. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
  44. ^ "Iran bans The Economist over map". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
  45. ^ "Guardian and RFI correspondent risks two years in jail". Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
  46. ^ "The electoral week — On the trail". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-28.
  47. ^ "Investing in Indonesia". economist.com. Retrieved 2006-12-28.
  48. ^ The Economist, December 11-17, 2004, cover

Further reading

  • Edwards, Ruth Dudley (1993) The Pursuit of Reason: The Economist 1843–1993, London: Hamish Hamilton, ISBN 0-241-12939-7
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