Not that it matters, but I’ll pass on purchasing Graydon Carter’s new memoir When the Going Was Good, a long recitation of his career in the magazine industry, filled with gossip, examples of wanton spending on the editorial side of titles like Vanity Fair, Time, Vogue and a dozen or more that comprised what Carter accurately calls “the last golden age of magazines.” It’s not because of any animus towards Carter—he was very kind to me during the run of my New York Press, and always a lot of fun at the occasional junket I attended—but it’s old news, the same feeling I have about any 2024 campaign books (of which, surprisingly few are scheduled for print). Besides, I’ve read number of reviews of the Carter book and I get the gist.
Last week in The Free Press—the mostly forgettable, but popular, website that disgruntled New York Times writer Bari Weiss launched in 2021—the journeyman journalist Joe Nocera, whose articles I’ve mostly avoided, weighed in on the topic, not especially ably. However, he did open his article with an anecdote about Art Cooper, the late editor of GQ, a jovial man whom I liked very much. Nocera remembers a boozy lunch they had at the Four Seasons, which was “intended to give me a taste of just how freely Conde Nast spend its money.” In the late-1990s, I interviewed Cooper and Alan Richman (a great food columnist for GQ), and though I never thought much of Cooper’s magazine, and said so in my MUGGER column, he was a good sport about the criticism and we had a very enjoyable two-hour session at my Puck Building offices.
As I mentioned, Nocera’s a run-of-the-mill writer, and his “contrarian” view of the past and current media industry isn’t at all convincing. For example, he props up David Remnick’s no-longer-relevant New Yorker as top-drawer, and doesn’t mention that the reduced size and reach of the storied magazine forced Remnick to hoist the #NeverTrump banner, a thankless effort today.
Nocera writes: “These days, it’s often said that nobody has the money to pay for serious journalism anymore. But maybe that’s just nostalgia speaking. [At least I’ve discovered that “nostalgia” has the ability to speak.] When I look at the journalism landscape, I see plenty of stories that are every bit as good as those we published when ‘the going was good.’ Maybe even better.” After another hummer for Remnick, Nocera continues: “So have publications like The Atavist Magazine and Texas Monthly and The Ringer, and, yes, The Free Press. And lots of others. The Great Magazine may be dead. But great magazine journalism is not.” He links to a Times article… and another New Yorker essay.
It’s true that “great journalism” wasn’t always supported by crazy paychecks and expense accounts, but that’s not the case today. As a lifelong editor, publisher and writer, I read a lot of contemporary journalism and the “landscape” is bleak. As in “climate change” bleak. There’s the Walter Kirn/David Samuels County Highway, a bi-monthly newspaper that’s filled with terrific material; the Claremont Review, New Criterion, UK Spectator and London Review of Books have their moments, but otherwise it’s thankless sledding, especially in daily newspapers. It’s the reason that, like so many others, I subscribe to few publications, as opposed to the 1990s, when over 70 titles came to my home (and countless others at my office). It’s also the reason, as noted in this space, that when the workday whistle blows, I relax with strictly fiction.
And not to beat a still-breathing Nocera, in mid-70s, but his Free Press story about his lack of interest in baseball—he was once a diehard Red Sox fan—owing to all the money (which didn’t bother him as a journalist, even though he’s “always on labor’s side”), large-market teams spend, and, despite the recent hurry-up rules, slow pace of the game. He writes: “Today, attention spans are short, and things move quickly. Except baseball. For better or worse, its time has passed.” That’s Fay Vincent Nocera’s view, and to each his own.
And nothing’s worse than baseball writers injecting their political views into ostensible coverage of the game. Last Friday, Craig Calcaterra, in his blog Cup of Coffee. wrote: “White Sox 8 Angels 1: Evil is ascendant. There are fresh horrors every day. Life in America has become all but intolerable. And on top of that the schedule makers gave us a dogshit matchup like the Chisox and Halos on Opening Day? Humans can only stand so much, man. But hey, good for Chicago starting the year off with a win. I'm too lazy to check at the moment but I'm pretty sure that they didn't win their first game last year until August 12. Six shutout innings for starter Sean Burke. A three-run homer from Andrew Benintendi. Lenyn Sosa and Austin Slater went deep too.”
—Follow Russ Smith on Twitter: @MUGGER2023