Loading Library Hours...

The New Yorker

Publication analysis

About the publication

Title: The New Yorker

ISSN: 0028-792X (Print) and 2163-3827 (Online)1

Purpose, objective, or mission: “The New Yorker is considered by many to be the most influential magazine in the world, renowned for its in-depth reporting, political and cultural commentary, fiction, poetry, and humor.”2

Website: http://www.newyorker.com/

Target audience: General public.

Publisher: Conde Nast Publications.3

Peer reviewed? No.

Type: Civilian magazine.

Medium: Print and online.4

Content: The New Yorker features articles about various subjects concerning popular culture, world politics, and social issues, not necessarily in that order. Each issue also includes a short story, poetry, literary reviews, cartoons, and short news reports.

Frequency of publication: The New Yorker is published 47 times per year (number of issues per month varies.)5

About the publication’s submission guidelines

Location of submission guidelines: http://www.newyorker.com/contact/contactus

Types of contributions accepted: Poetry, news-breaks, short stories, and letters to the editor, cartoons, and satirical pieces.6

Submission and review process: Send submissions via email as a pdf attachment.7

Editorial tone: Can range from silly to erudite, depending on the piece.

Style guide used: None specified.

Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors

At first glance at the magazine’s submission guidelines, it would seem that there isn’t really any opportunity for LIS authors to contribute to The New Yorker, since they don’t accept nonfiction articles due to the large volume of manuscripts they would probably receive. However, this publication does accept short news reports and commentaries so there is an opportunity for everyone, LIS professionals and students included, to submit short articles that deal with interesting occurrences or developments in their own communities.

 

Audience analysis

About the publication’s readers

Publication circulation: “…more than a million subscribers to the weekly magazine and nearly twenty-one million readers every month on newyorker.com.”8

Audience location and language or cultural considerations: Although it might seem that The New Yorker primarily serves residents of New York City, its scope is diverse and wide enough for it to have become one of the best-selling magazines nationwide. The New Yorker is an English publication and primarily serves residents of the United States but it covers issues from both a national and global perspective, making it accessible to the diverse population of the U.S. that come from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures.

Reader characteristics: The readers of The New Yorker are 45% male and 55% female. The average household income is $129,631. From the demographic statistics of its subscribers, we can assume that subscribers of this publication are typically educated middle to upper-class adults.9 This publication is considered politically left-leaning, and a review of the recent issues supports this assumption.

Knowledge of LIS subject matter: It is safe to assume that the majority of subscribers are probably not LIS professionals and have little or no knowledge of LIS topics and issues. The magazine obviously has a diverse audience and LIS professionals only make up a small percentage of this group. The New Yorker sometimes prints articles about libraries or librarians and the important issues of the profession, but with an absence of, or, at least minimal, LIS jargon for the benefit of all its readers.

Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors

Statistics show that the average reader of The New Yorker is financially well off, with age ranges across the spectrum. That said, being a popular magazine across the nation, its readers are still a diverse group of people with different backgrounds and interests. Since the magazine is only soliciting poetry, fiction, news breaks, commentaries, and letters to the editor, potential authors do not have to write scholarly pieces; the tone is informal but writing should exhibit intelligence and a sophisticated mastery of language.

Although it is not a LIS-oriented magazine, LIS authors are still welcome to submit interesting commentaries or activities in their own communities and institutions.

Last updated: September 6, 2020

References

  1.  The New Yorker, Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory, accessed September 6, 2020, http://ulrichsweb.serialssolutions.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/search/431086251
  2. “About Us,” NewYorker.com, accessed September 12, 2018, http://www.newyorker.com/about/us/?src=tny-footer
  3. “The New Yorker,” NewYorker.com, accessed November 26,  2016, http://www.newyorker.com/
  4. “About Us.”
  5. “Subscribe to The New Yorker,” NewYorker.com, accessed September 12, 2018, https://subscribe.newyorker.com/subscribe/newyorker/108815?source=AMS_NYR_GLOBAL_NAVBAR_GI_BlackFriday_Holiday16&pos_name=AMS_NYR_GLOBAL_NAVBAR
  6. “Contact Us,” NewYorker.com, accessed September 6, 2020, http://www.newyorker.com/contact/contactus
  7. “Contact Us.”
  8. Conde Nast Publications. (2018). Media Kit. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.condenast.com/brands/the-new-yorker/
  9. “Advertise Locally in The New Yorker,” mediamaxnetwork.com, accessed September 6, 2020, https://mediamaxnetwork.com/publications/the-new-yorker/