There are two free, American cultural zeitgeist magazines that have been around for the last few years. One represented tacky rudeness mistaken for irony, while the other actually strived to be positive, represent the unsung and spread useful information. One has ushered in the marketing category of "hipster," where middle class suburban refugees holding cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon can buy into "alternative" culture while still being sexist, racist, homophobic and greedy as fuck. The other free magazine, Arthur, made you believe that there was still hope for our generation. Unapologetically anti-war, nerdy and a bit hippy, Arthur never confused it's mission with simply existing to sell ad space.
I feel saddened and defeated with the recent news that Arthur, the BEST national free magazine, has folded. I felt that Arthur was on a trajectory to being better and more popular than ever, but the founders, editor Jay Babcock and publisher Laris Kreslins, have had a falling out about the future of the magazine. Kreslins has removed Babcock's final message about the folding, asserting that the magazine is simply on hiatus - but without Babcock, Arthur is indeed dead.
What Others Are Saying:
Arthur Mag Calls It Quits - Village voice
Future of Arthur Magazine looks bleak - LA Times
Disinfo on Arthur's Demise
silver in sf
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Comments (2)
you are so right - one of the truly great things about arthur was its lack of that ironic pose that characterizes so much of contemporary culture.
Posted by david silver | February 28, 2007 11:36 AM
Posted on February 28, 2007 11:36
Oh.... well I don't have a problem with irony - it's my favorite thing of all. What I said is that this other magazine mistakes what they do for irony. The only ironic thing about them is that they really are the obnoxious, bigoted people they are posing as.
Posted by Mr. Mcginnis | February 28, 2007 1:05 PM
Posted on February 28, 2007 13:05