What does a reader expect from a news website, magazine, or physical paper? With the Economist, they can expect a daily global briefing that gets them ahead in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. According to The Economist, readers can be assured of political, commercial, agricultural, and free-trade journalism in the Economist's weekly published content.
But how did a weekly newspaper born to muster support for abolishing the British Corn Laws in 1843 become a costlier yet go-to news source for current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture? Let’s find out.
A critical component of news is the delivery of important facts in a short, crisp, and unbiased form. The Economist editorial team chose 13 coverage areas, encompassing anything and everything related to commerce, trade, agriculture, and manufacturing. The Economist's initial publishing years attracted the hands of a high-income and educated readership, drawing both positive and negative connotations. The popularity it gained not only attracted thousands of weekly active readers but also opinions from world-changing leaders like Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.
Till 1971, The Economist’s weekly digest was published in large broadsheet format. It was redesigned to magazine-style perfect bound formatting, which later became the unique identification of The Economist around the world. The magazine expanded to North America, which increased its readership tenfold. It then released an exclusive weekly section on China, the first new country since the introduction of the United States’ economic matters in 1942. Covering international economic and financial topics strengthened The Economist's stance among top business houses and became a weekly supplement to stay abreast of the trending winds.
The Economist kept a consistent editorial stance and rarely kept a byline, quoting, "Collective voice and personality matter more than the identities of individual journalists." The anonymous ethos of The Economist has helped it strengthen collective and consistent voice, talent, newsroom management, and brand personality. While the anonymity of editors also attracted negative attention, it only helped the newspaper gain more popularity and higher readership. Today, The Economist reaches nearly 6.5 million readers weekly, covering topics such as countries and regions, business, finance and economics, science, and technology.
Another key contributor to The Economist’s success is its crisp, to-the-point, often blunt, and mostly opinionated editorial pieces. The paper routinely publishes user-received letters that openly criticize its articles and stances to cultivate diversity of thought. The publication runs several opinion columns of its editors, whose names reflect the topic.
In addition, the company has found creative ways to propagate topics other than economic reforms and political liberalism. In 2007, it released a quarterly sister lifestyle magazine called 1843 that covered "the arts, style, food, wine, cars, travel and anything else under the sun, as long as it's interesting." In this edition, all the editor names were placed beautifully right next to the article titles.
Data Journalism has remained a strong focus for the publication since its conception in 1843. The company heads an exclusive team of data journalists who find accurate stats and present them in engaging visual graphics. Through the 2000s, The Economist editors and readers developed a preference for more data-driven stories, expanding their dependency on the paper’s weekly stats. The legacy house publishes two annual reviews and predictive reports under ‘The World Ahead.’ Based on economic and political reforms, The Economist has ranked the Country of the Year since 2013 based on its key contributions.
The Economist kept a witty slogan through the 1990s: "The Economist - Not read by millions of people." It has become the longest-read paper in the history of journalism by so few readers. The paper’s subscription cost has remained above its competitors' but has kept growing without complaining about the higher premium. The company has successfully embedded a united opinion of far better quality for slightly higher costs among its readers. The Economist runs physical and digital publications of its weekly, quarterly, and annual digests with a leader stature, making it one of the longest-running success stories in the history of journalism.
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