The Economist: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''First published in September 1843 to take part in "a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress."'' |[[The Economist]]'s "mission statement", printed on the first page of each issue.}}
{{quote|''First published in September 1843 to take part in "a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress."'' |The Economist's "mission statement", printed on the first page of each issue.}}


''The Economist'' is a weekly news magazine (it calls itself a news''paper'' for historical reasons) published in Britain but read around the world. It caters to an intellectual audience, and [[Viewers Are Geniuses|knows it]].
''The Economist'' is a weekly news magazine (it calls itself a news''paper'' for historical reasons) published in Britain but read around the world. It caters to an intellectual audience, and [[Viewers Are Geniuses|knows it]].
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The writing style is [[Deadpan Snarker|clever and dry]], and the writers are ''extremely'' [[Hurricane of Puns|fond of puns]], [[Incredibly Lame Pun|incredibly lame and otherwise]]. [[Bilingual Bonus|These are often multilingual]], frequently [[Smart People Know Latin|requiring a working knowledge of Latin]], and they [[Don't Explain the Joke]]. The magazine's policy of always providing background information about famous people or entities can lead to heaping doses of [[Captain Obvious]], such as their description of "[[Jackie Chan]], a kung-fu actor from Hong Kong".
The writing style is [[Deadpan Snarker|clever and dry]], and the writers are ''extremely'' [[Hurricane of Puns|fond of puns]], [[Incredibly Lame Pun|incredibly lame and otherwise]]. [[Bilingual Bonus|These are often multilingual]], frequently [[Smart People Know Latin|requiring a working knowledge of Latin]], and they [[Don't Explain the Joke]]. The magazine's policy of always providing background information about famous people or entities can lead to heaping doses of [[Captain Obvious]], such as their description of "[[Jackie Chan]], a kung-fu actor from Hong Kong".


Somewhat amusingly, for all of the hauteur of its style, writers for ''The Economist'' are--according to one report--mostly recent graduates of [[Oxbridge|Magdalen College, Oxford]], generally having read Economics, Political Science, or PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). This is masked by the fact that all articles in ''The Economist'' [[No Name Given|are anonymous]]--even the editor is barely mentioned, and the opinion columnists write under certain standardised pseudonyms, all of which [[Meaningful Name|have some sort of historical significance]]: "Lexington" for the United States (after the [[The American Revolution|Battles of Lexington and Concord]]), "Banyan" for Asia (a recent one, named after a kind of tree), "Charlemagne" for Europe (after, well, Charlemagne), Bagehot for Britain (after Walter Bagehot, the third editor of ''The Economist''), "Schumpeter" for economics (after the famous economist), and "Buttonwood" for finance and business (after the buttonwood tree on Wall Street under which the New York Stock Exchange originally did business).
Somewhat amusingly, for all of the hauteur of its style, writers for ''The Economist'' are—according to one report—mostly recent graduates of [[Oxbridge|Magdalen College, Oxford]], generally having read Economics, Political Science, or PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). This is masked by the fact that all articles in ''The Economist'' [[No Name Given|are anonymous]]—even the editor is barely mentioned, and the opinion columnists write under certain standardised pseudonyms, all of which [[Meaningful Name|have some sort of historical significance]]: "Lexington" for the United States (after the [[The American Revolution|Battles of Lexington and Concord]]), "Banyan" for Asia (a recent one, named after a kind of tree), "Charlemagne" for Europe (after, well, Charlemagne), Bagehot for Britain (after Walter Bagehot, the third editor of ''The Economist''), "Schumpeter" for economics (after the famous economist), and "Buttonwood" for finance and business (after the buttonwood tree on Wall Street under which the New York Stock Exchange originally did business).


It's also highly successful, being one of the few print magazines to have gained circulation in the past 10 years, to a total of 1.2 million. Only 14% of that circulation is in the UK, probably making [[The Economist]] the only mass print medium to have more copies circulating outside its country of origin than within.
It's also highly successful, being one of the few print magazines to have gained circulation in the past 10 years, to a total of 1.2 million. Only 14% of that circulation is in the UK, probably making '''The Economist''' the only mass print medium to have more copies circulating outside its country of origin than within.


Fond of the [[Political Cartoon]], often less [[Anvilicious]] than most examples (if only because the cartoons are usually paired with articles that explain the issues anyway).
Fond of the [[Political Cartoon]], often less [[Anvilicious]] than most examples (if only because the cartoons are usually paired with articles that explain the issues anyway).
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[[Category:Print Long Runners]]
[[Category:Print Long Runners]]
[[Category:The Economist]]
[[Category:The Economist]]
[[Category:Magazine]]
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