The New Yorker

From ArticleWorld

The New Yorker is an American magazine renowned for its quality writings. While The New Yorker focuses most of its coverage on life in New York City, the magazine is popular all over the world. It is particularly famous for its cartoons and short stories and is a forerunner in American journalism.

History

The New Yorker was created by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant. Their goal was to create a tasteful humor magazine for the New York upper class. Ross teamed with businessman Raoul H. Fleishman to start F-R Publishing Company. The first issue of The New Yorker hit stands on Feb. 21, 1925.

Ross edited the magazine until his death in 1951. William Shawn was editor took over from 1951 to 1987, then Robert Gottlieb from 1987 to 1992, and then Tina Brown from 1992 to 1998. The New Yorker is now run by Editor David Remnick.

Advance Publications bought The New Yorker in 1985.

Content

While maintaining its sense of humor, The New Yorker has also become a leader in serious journalism and fiction. The magazine published a full issue with John Hersey’s Hiroshima after World War II. The New Yorker has also featured writings from the most respected authors J.D. Salinger, Alice Munro, Vladimir Nabokov, and John Updike.

Politically, The New Yorker has always leaned left but traditionally stayed out of party politics. However, in 2004 The New Yorker formally endorsed U.S. Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry, breaking 80 years of non-partisan tradition.

The New Yorker’s cartoons are famous for their absurdity. Their list of famous cartoonists runs long and includes Roz Chast, P.S. Mueller, and George Booth.

Famous contributors to the magazine include director Woody Allen, writer Truman Capote, writer Roald Dahl, writer Dave Eggers, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, and actor Steve Martin.