Martin Schneider writes:

It's common to hear nowadays that the American magazine is doomed. Hearst's Cathie Black begs to differ, invoking the example of the first years of The New Yorker:

In 1933, a year when every dollar mattered, The New Yorker's founders, Harold Ross and Raoul Fleischmann, published a Code of Ideals for their magazine. Ignoring the economy, they boldly announced, "Great advertising mediums are operated for the reader first, for profits second." They got their priorities right: When you truly serve the reader, the advertisers will come.

Those are bracing and inspiring words to hear. You have to admire their guts. No matter how things get, I tend to agree with Black that no matter how bad circumstances get, the industry of selling bits of colored paper with words on them on a weekly, semi-weekly, or monthly basis—is not going to perish anytime soon. I hope I'm right!