The New Republic

"The journalism in these pages will strive to be free of party ideology or partisan bias, although it will showcase passionate writing and will continue to wrestle with the primary questions about our society." - Chris Hughes I hope this doesn't mean that TNR is shifting towards the easy "objectivity" of magazines that leave the fight for liberalism implicit. Reading John Judis, Peter Beinart, Jonathan Chait, Spencer Ackerman, Jonathan Cohn, and others when I was in high school was my introduction to liberalism - an introduction with writers who cared about being honest, yes, but also cared about arguing for liberalism unashamedly. I will support TNR regardless, and I think the redesign is beautiful, but it would be disappointing for forceful liberalism to take a back seat in order to placate those who worry about "bias."

- dcarpenter

January 27, 2013 at 10:10pm

Is this supposed to be an improvement? The old website wasn't perfect, but it was usable. This features headlines in a color that's virtually invisible, with so little information on a single screen that you have to spend so much time navigating that you wonder if it's worth you while. Are you trying to drive traffic to the print version of the magazine, to Slate and Salon, or what? Back to the drawing board, guys. I want to see yet another redesign within 90 days, and hopefully sooner. And if you know what's good for you you'll give this up and go back to the old version while you're coming up with that new new web design, because if you haven't figured it out yet, this one is really awful.

- Kokomo O

January 27, 2013 at 10:35pm

I know this won't satisfy all readers, but the new ipad app is fantastic. It's original in many respects, but for those who use the most popular "reader" (I won't name it but you know what I am referring to), it has some of its best features. And as I understand the subscription policy, you don't pay extra for the app, unlike many other magazines. For frequent commenters like me, it's an adjustment, but an adjustment worth making.

- rayward

January 28, 2013 at 6:58am

congrats for a good new site. the hugeness of some parts seem a bit to large, but they do add "punch" that some might like. as with any new site, there are some bugs, but i'm sure they'll be corrected ASAP. my reading of TNR was avid in the days when the Vietnam "conflict" loomed before my generation--and continued until TNR kinda lost its way (in my opinion). now i'm gonna support TNR as a loyal reader as much as possible. i do think that advocacy has its place in modern media, and what is advocated must make as much sense now as in the past if we are to enjoy the future.

- cdmcl3

January 28, 2013 at 8:32am

I have to agree with kokomo. I find this physically much harder to read due to some combination of the typeface and column width and line spacing, and impossible to navigate. Articles are listed seriatum, endlessly. The departments and compartments that made it possible to know what went where have all vanished. Plus, what is with the italics for comments? Who wants to read italics? They are unpleasant unless used for emphasis. Above all, I don't know what motivated the change. Seems like change for the sake of change and one has to doubt whether any of these was beta-tested with people who actually read TNR. This seems like a New Coke mistake.

- roidubouloi

January 28, 2013 at 9:04am

"The journalism in these pages will strive to be free of party ideology or partisan bias, although it will showcase passionate writing and will continue to wrestle with the primary questions about our society." - Chris Hughes This reader, like Mr. Obama, is not pleased. As long as I've read TNR, it has been a bastion of sensible, progressive, liberalism. If you're trying to attract more readers by pretending to be "objective", like most of the MSM, then fine. But if you are going to go the way of the MSM, then I won't be a subscriber for long. You, sir, are on notice.

- austinous

January 28, 2013 at 9:19am

BTW, other than the fact that the comments don't show up automatically, I don't think I have much of an issue with the site redesign. Would be good if more was visible on the page where we can pick and choose what we want to read, rather than having to scroll through, but that may just be something we get used to.

- austinous

January 28, 2013 at 9:21am

I appreciate what the "new" New Republic is trying to achieve, both editorially and from a business model, and I don't have a problem with change. But you got rolled by your consultant on the site redesign. Yes, the graphics are cutting edge, but the functionality is awful -- particularly for search and navigation. Where are the individual blog links? Why no search by page or date (essential for retrieving old articles)? What happened to the archived back issue downloads and EBSCOhost advanced search (included in the subscription I paid for)? For that matter, why can't I access my subscription details online (all that comes up on the Subscriber Services link is a change form)? I've been a subscriber since 1984 and want to continue supporting TNR as it enters its second century. But this morning I am unhappy.

- aeisens

January 28, 2013 at 9:36am

Wow, a new layout. Only one thing missing or so hidden it might as well be nonexistent - a place for an active subscriber to login. I subscribed to your magazine being able to download the current New Republic issue as a PDF file and read at my leisure on my Android tablet. If you have now removed that ability, we need to have a discussion about refunding my subscription fee. I do not care about or want your iPad app since I do not own or have any plans to purchase an iPad. I am all for magazines developing better tools for providing content via the internet rather than the traditional print formats. The TNR redesign for me is a step backward in this regard.

- david123

January 28, 2013 at 10:16am

“ "The journalism in these pages will strive to be free of party ideology or partisan bias, although it will showcase passionate writing and will continue to wrestle with the primary questions about our society." - Chris Hughes Oh dear God, I do hope this is glad-handling backslapping bullshit - if so I totally forgive you Chris. There is no such animal as a vibrant, important TNR that is "free of bias", who would even value such a thing? Does proper advocacy not matter to you? There is no such thing as objectivity - reasoned thought, yes, but let's not drown ourselves in platitudes. Poor Christopher Hitchens must be rolling over in his...never mind, probably not. To even attempt "objectivity" would destroy TNR, turn in in to just another banal rag - I have to beg you to cease even threatening such a gruesome fate for this fine magazine.

- WandreyCer

January 28, 2013 at 11:04am

My strong recommendation would be to not hide the feedback by default! The comments are what originally attracted to me to tnr.com over its competitors. And like Roi said, I'd drop the italics and probably add some timestamps so you have some idea whether you are participating in an active or long dead discussion. I'll have to try the ipad app, but the iPhone experience isn't too great. The home page appears to be attempting to be a magazine front cover which isn't the best use of a digital format.

- Nari224

January 28, 2013 at 11:13am

I'm still more than a bit bewildered by the changes, still having trouble finding content, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. More important in the near-term, however, are broken links. For example, the link to "Our Latest" at the bottom of this page is "not found". I'd expect hat part of the page to be a template, the same for every page. It's hard enough to find things. But the broken links increase the level of difficulty many-fold!

- mrheckman

January 28, 2013 at 11:21am

The subscriber services links are completely hosed. I went to check my account status, nothing is listed except the login portion. No way listed on my acct. page to renew, my mailing info was wiped out. Outside of the difficult-to-use new web format, the oversized typeset and the botched subscriber info section, everything's great!!

- tmmats

January 28, 2013 at 12:15pm

By the time they get all the bugs fixed my subscription will run out (in June), and I may decide to unsubscribe. I don't like the promise of Hughes to be free from partisan bias. What is this, CNN the Magazine? I like to read articles or books that are biased one way or the other. That way I can agree, disagree, or synthesize my own viewpoint. As long as there is some Left 'bias' here, I would welcome Right bias, too, if only to be able to attack it (and occasionally agree with it). 'EBSCOhost advanced search (included in the subscription I paid for).' Where is it? I agree with AEISENS.

- magboy47.

January 28, 2013 at 12:35pm

Please return the front page of the website to some format that conveys information about articles that are linked from that page. Thank you.

- mwgrieco

January 28, 2013 at 1:13pm

While the ipad app is updated the iphone app appears to have been removed. Keep it up people, your "roll out" is going swimmingly. You must have hired the software gurus that caused the 24 state multi-day outage of ATT's Uverse service last week.

- tmmats

January 28, 2013 at 1:38pm

So, this is what design gets you - a dysfunctional site that clearly imagines I use a browser to light my room, since most pages are awash in white space and overlarge title bars that convey nothing. If I could find the customer service links, I'd probably cancel my automatic resubscription, so I can come back in 6 months and see if you've fixed anything. I come here for content - from the magazine's contributors, and from conmenters. You've diluted that content by at least 50%, and made it harder to get to. I'd give your launch about a C-, and only because I don't want to flunk you and discourage you from trying again.

- IowaBeauty

January 28, 2013 at 1:57pm

Hey waitta minute (she says eyes narrowed suspiciously) what did you guys do with Tim Noah? He better be hanging around here somewhere or else.

- WandreyCer

January 28, 2013 at 2:03pm

"In 2013, The New Republic can no longer be just a magazine. We are a media company that produces live events featuring our staff and other experts, a responsive website designed for social conversations and a mobile life, audio versions of all of our work, a cutting-edge tablet app, and, of course, 20 print issues a year." -Chris Hughes...While others have already commented that an ideology- and bias-free commentary is both impossible and not what anyone subscribed for, I'd also like to comment (since the site's "Cancel My Account" link is not functioning, and Subscriber Services have not yet responded to my account cancellation request) that this part of the article makes clear that the decisionmaking in this reorganization has been made with little or no regard for the current situation at The New Republic. TNR has not been "just a magazine" for several years now; the print magazine is nice, but I've had an online-only subcription for years, and I hardly think I'm alone in that. TNR crossed the Rubicon from website to online community long, long ago, and while "a responsive website designed for social conversations" is nice lip service to that, the reality of the current web design is that it is unrelentingly hostile to extended conversation. It also seems to glaringly miss the concept that "a mobile life" is not, in fact, the only life. Some of us don't have Facebook accounts (and won't get them). Some of us don't have iPads (and won't get them, either). Some people, surprisingly enough, just want a website that simply works and makes sense to the reader when you call it up in your browser. And if you think that "live events for the staff" will make up for the stark drop in readership you're about to suffer by ignoring the value that your readers' comments brought to your publication, well...as was said above, wherever your pricey consultants' advice is coming from, you got rolled.

- janus

January 28, 2013 at 2:10pm

I'm the first one to say that change is good in many cases. Even at the New Republic. Still, I need a crib sheet to understand the changes. It would be great if you listed the old blogs and segments (Electionate, The Plank, etc) and let us know how we can find them or if they are gone.

- lala

January 28, 2013 at 2:59pm

I'm the first one to say that change is good in many cases. Even at the New Republic. Still, I need a crib sheet to understand the changes. It would be great if you listed the old blogs and segments (Electionate, The Plank, etc) and let us know how we can find them or if they are gone.

- lala

January 28, 2013 at 3:00pm

Where's the archive? The Issues Archive? A way to d/l current and recent issues as PDF? I sometimes lose the print copy, or it gets wet and stuck together - the PDF provides a useful backup. Not all of us have iPads - when will you have the Android app? Not that I have a good Android box either, but I'm more likely to buy one than an Apple machine, esp. since my carrier doesn't have iPhone. Also, iPhone market share in smartphones is declining.

- NR852187

January 28, 2013 at 3:06pm

I hope the changes are temporary. I like html coding for underlining, bolding and itaiics. I miss being able to put in web links (since there is no preview, these events have to be discovered after the fact). The font is harder to read on my desktop computer, but maybe it is better on tablets. Being able to "respond" to posts is good.

- Nusholtz

January 28, 2013 at 3:09pm

Lofty goals. Goals that I admire (i.e. adapting to the new reality of delivery systems). But poor, poor, poor execution. Difficult to find sections and specific articles. Typeset in all but unreadable fonts and styles (what's with all the italics?). And worst of all, signing in is all but impossible. On the website, I must click on Forgot Password each and every time I've logged out and want to log in again, or login fails. On the iPad, login fails, and there's no way even to reset the password (not that doing so each and every time is an appealing task). The iPhone app does not exist; one is simply instructed to add a pointer icon -- to the full website -- to the home screen (and again, there exists no way to log in. Change is most times a good thing, but this revamp is, so far, a disaster. I subscribe to both the print and online versions of TNR, but I won't wait long to request a prorated refund and a cancellation of my account.

- anthonyvtoscano

January 28, 2013 at 3:49pm

Good god, that's a lot of white space. (except for the front page, which is 80% dark matter). Where are all the content links? Where is the Plank? Where are the dates and time stamps on comments? I'll admit, the iPad app looks pretty slick, but that's not how I like to consume a magazine. The web portal is a disaster. Give me well organized content density on one page so I can choose for myself what to read next, and so I know immediately where to find it.

- frb631

January 28, 2013 at 4:53pm

How can you read the current issue online? The articles are listed but they aren't links. Can't find links to most of the articles anywhere else. Lots of problems others have already identified, hope they'll be fixed soon.

- s.trabka@frontier.com-old

January 28, 2013 at 5:15pm

Sigh. Another overly-clever redesign (perhaps by the same people who brought us the new UC Berkeley logo....would link to it, but of course, we can't now). And are the RSS feeds gone along with the blogs?

- hrsn

January 28, 2013 at 5:23pm

I like what I see so far. I'm willing to be patient to see how the bugs get worked out. Like others, I'd like to see access to archives easier, and an iPhone app. But I am going to give myself time to learn the new interface and see if I can benefit from the redesign. I do like the threaded reply feature, though overnight, it didn't seem to work well. It seems to work now. Keep plugg'n away design team.

- jet

January 28, 2013 at 5:47pm

As one who visits TNR frequently (all day at work), I vote thumbs down on the redesign. The magazine title is nondescript. And why kill the old ship logo -- it may not have conveyed any information, but it was a familiar identifying symbol for TNR. The home page is dominated by the huge title, a couple of stories from the current issue, and some departments at the bottom that are mostly opaque, and the site is mostly black -- the old site was brighter, and had clear links to many more things. The blogs seem to have disappeared -- I read the Plank all day. If the "Politics" page is the substitute for the Plank, it fails -- no pictures to make the page graphically attractive, and no sidebar listing of the most recent half-dozen stories. As others have noted, the comment section on articles is not user-friendly. Once we have a page devoted to that article, why should we have to click again (on a line below the "Read These Next" section) to see the comments? Why are comments in minuscule type and in italics? Unlike many (most? nearly all?) media sites, TNR's comments section is almost entirely civil, informed, and lively -- why make it difficult to get to and read it? And again as others have noted, what's this blather about being "free of party ideology or partisan bias," emphasizing "passionate writing," and "wrestl[ing] with the primary questions about our society, ... discern[ing] the hidden patterns, ... connect[ing] the disparate facts, ...."? TNR is (or at least has been) a journal of opinion. No, it's not wedded to whatever the Democratic Party says (if it says anything coherently), but it's a journal of liberal political thought. It presents some diversity of opinion, but it has a point of view, and that's why we subscribers subscribe.

- TARFON

January 28, 2013 at 6:20pm

No live links to articles on the Current Issue page? No previous issue archive? Given up completely on desktop in favor of tablet? Revamp bungled.

- Kalonymus

January 28, 2013 at 7:12pm

Wishing TNR well in these new endeavors. Right now it looks a little like new wine in old skins. I don't know if the Web/App will be able to hold all this another time around. Wonder if there is a little irony here with Mr. Hughes line 'The journalism in these pages will strive to be free of party ideology or partisan bias, although it will showcase passionate writing and will continue to wrestle with the primary questions about our society.' While President Obama is on the cover and the softball interview is center stage. Hopefully youthful enthusiasm and not the shameless partisanship from this fall.

- CRS9TNR

January 28, 2013 at 7:24pm

What happened to the Archives? They lost them in the last redesign and we went 3 months without archives. I bought copies of old articles and they were kept on-line for my access. How come every web re-design loses the archives. Because some programmer doesn't want to deal with choppy PDF Files and the EBOS Database we have to suffer? Tell the overpaid IT Types that this is a requirement. They aren't doing us a favor, access to the archives is required.

- CRS9TNR

January 28, 2013 at 7:44pm

Ack! The New Republic had a distinctive style and a website that made it easy to find things, the Plank, Movies, listings by journalist, archives, etc. Now it looks like every other flashy website and will take some getting used to. I appreciate what Chris Hughes is doing for the magazine but some things are better left alone.

- laurig

January 28, 2013 at 8:33pm

Bring back the sailing ship logo! In the current redesign it is in solitary confinement. A distinctive logo is like gold: think of Ford, Coca-Cola and Apple. A logo imprints itself on the reader's memory and elicits both an intellectual and emotional response.

- ttocher

January 28, 2013 at 10:12pm

Bring back the sailing ship logo! In the current redesign it is in solitary confinement. A distinctive logo is like gold: think of Ford, Coca-Cola and Apple. A logo imprints itself on the reader's memory and elicits both an intellectual and emotional response.

- ttocher

January 28, 2013 at 10:12pm

I just got my first dead-tree edition of TNR, or should I say NR?. Egads, it looks like a weird mating of the old TNR, "Time" and "People "magazine. Some of the content looks like something that belongs in "People" magazine, not TNR, er NR. The paper is nice quality though, so there, I did say something nice. If this is what's in store for future this journal, it was nice while it lasted.

- tmmats

January 28, 2013 at 11:03pm

God does this suck.

- owenc

January 29, 2013 at 12:26am

As a long time TNR reader (both print and web), I think it's great that Chris Hughes decided that the best use of some of his FB millions was to support the magazine. So I'm excited for TNR's future, and don't want to be too critical of the recent changes made, without giving them a chance. But, I must say I do agree with many of the commenters finding flaws with particulars of the changes seen so far. Certainly I will add my voice to those who say, regarding the comments function: Please get rid of the italics, and bring back the time stamp! Thanks! Also, has anyone noticed, that design of the "Our Latest" page seems to exhibit an inconsistency in regards to the horizontal lines that divide some, but not all, of the various links to the articles? What's up with that?

- Horrox

January 29, 2013 at 1:18am

The upside of this now almost useless, and very uninteresting, website is that I now have a lot more time for other things. I used to be on and off TNR all day when at my computer, which is most of the time. Now there is no reason. Pity. It also does seem that the re-design is meant primarily to disguise the loss of content. Oh well. All things must pass.

- roidubouloi

January 29, 2013 at 8:10am

malahat, I wish I did. It is in some sense probably good for me that my TNR addiction has been rendered largely moot, but I liked my addiction, even though embarrassed by it at times and occasionally dissembling about just how much time I spent here in the course of a day. Some have internet porn, I have had TNR. I don't plan to vanish, but the structure of this site makes it essentially impossible for me to devote the same time and energy. I can't find anything, it is hard to read, it is hard to comment, and it is hard to keep track of a comment thread in one's mine given the layout. If you or anyone else discovers a viable alternative, please write to me at: roidubouloi@gmail.com.

- roidubouloi

January 29, 2013 at 4:00pm

I like that posts and articles have been given their own clean-looking web pages, without excessive side-bar clutter and tacky ads. I would continue with more positive reactions, but unfortunately that is the only positive thing I have to say. It's not a terrible idea to place all recent posts/articles in an endless streaming list ("The Latest"), but that should be complemented by at least some basic sections (politics and culture/arts to name two) to allow those of us uninterested in the cultural implications of Beyonce to filter that out. The "TRB" series of posts (all by Noah--not sure why that's not called "Noah's Blog") is unexplained (what is TRB to someone unfamiliar with NR?). I can't find any sustained group of political articles not written by Noah, which is truly dispiriting. Perhaps the iPad app is gorgeous, but the presentation on my Chrome browser is fairly atrocious. It's better in IE, but the issues with the comments that others have pointed out remain, and the extremely large font sizes make the entire site seem aggressive and conspiracy-laden. I can adjust to the style, but if the content remains hidden and limited, I won't be able to find value in remaining a subscriber or even a website visitor.

- polcereal

January 29, 2013 at 4:24pm

Hi, I'm a new subscriber from overseas without an iPad. What i thought i would get was access to some sort of premium section with the articles from the current issue for subscribers. What wasn't clear to me as a web only reader was that you absolutely need an iPad to actually be able to read them online. Comments aside, why should i subscribe to TNR if i can't read the current articles? What benefit do i get? None. Astounding. You've completely ruled out online digital subscribers without an iPad from reading the new articles. For me getting the print magazine now makes more sense than getting the online subscription if i want to read it on time. And the design: Well it's fresh and hip and edgy no doubt, but the more you use the website the more it is annoying because of all the back and forth navigating. Ok, that was a lot of criticism, sorry for that, but think about it from my side as i'm more than willing to pay for a magazine for which i am getting a bad experience at least, and -the worst part- : no access to actual articles at all. If i had to edit a magazine that thing i would make sure that all supporting readers could read it.

- Torsten Koben

January 29, 2013 at 4:45pm

I appreciate the usability goals of the change, but they seem to be designed exclusively for e-reading. I subscribe online because I live overseas and waiting for a hard copy in the post means always being out-of-date - but I hate reading on the screen and don't use an iPad. I always download and print off each issue. Perhaps I am missing something, but searching for a PDF copy to download (and for an archive of previous issues) has only led to frustration. Like other subscribers, I was excited at first, but am unhappy at present.

- hirving

January 29, 2013 at 5:37pm

On top of a hideous redesign, there is no way to download a PDF of the current and previous issues. All that annoyed me so much that I canceled my subscription.

- instruct5

January 29, 2013 at 6:14pm

Well -- we're now more than 36 hours since the launch, and still no response from NR management regarding the issues raised in this thread. I don't count Chris Hughes' e-mail Monday afternoon, which referred to "feedback" but didn't actually address any of it -- for all I know, it could have been written by a marketing aide in advance. I'm very disappointed. When Harper's launched its redesigned site in October, its publisher posted an apology for the obvious bugs and kept users apprised of what was being done to fix them. And while some features moved or were accessed differently, none to my knowledge were removed without explanation. What a contrast to what's going on here.

- aeisens

January 29, 2013 at 8:33pm

Well -- we're now more than 36 hours since the launch, and still no response from NR management regarding the issues raised in this thread. I don't count Chris Hughes' e-mail Monday afternoon, which referred to "feedback" but didn't actually address any of it -- for all I know, it could have been written by a marketing aide in advance. I'm very disappointed. When Harper's launched its redesigned site in October, its publisher posted an apology for the obvious bugs and kept users apprised of what was being done to fix them. And while some features moved or were accessed differently, none to my knowledge were removed without explanation. What a contrast to what's going on here.

- aeisens

January 29, 2013 at 8:33pm

Terrible implementation of "redesign". I'm a subscriber and yet every time I try to log in the system doesn't recognize the password. There is no evidence of my subscription when I do get the new password entered (groundhog day like, via email). The ipad app doesn't recognize me either. For a computer savvy leader, this is a miserable glitchy implementation. I call you "customer service" and am told you are having problems, "almost fixed" but after three days still broken. No acknowledgement on site or response to emails. Something's wrong with your organization. Do something please!

- Cycledoc

January 30, 2013 at 8:45am

It's weird that you don't even mention future plans for an Android app. Despite Apple's ubiquity, existing market share and projection tell us clearly that other platforms are important and the world is not one big proprietary Apple ecosystem. I find it a bit insulting when communication is premised on this fallacy.

- Willf

January 30, 2013 at 8:12pm

Where is the PDF dowload option? We exclusively use this printed for weekend reading so the current format won't be helpful.

- sluckas

January 31, 2013 at 4:57am

Don't really see what the improvement is supposed to be. It isn't easier to navigate. It isn't easier to browse the entire issue. Simply have a table of contents page with links at every story.

- guenthner

January 31, 2013 at 2:01pm

The comments here seem to range from annoyed to distraught. I guess I'm leaning toward the annoyed camp. I hope this redesign is aimed at people who want to read TNR while they're walking through busy intersections, because it sure isn't friendly to those of us who want to do some thoughtful reading on our desktops and laptops. I'm looking at the homepage on a 22" screen and see links to all of four articles...so much wasted space. If I go to "Our Latest" I can scroll down articles (magazine? blog?) in no apparent order (is it chronological? they're not dated).... Note to others who have had trouble signing in: the sign-in really doesn't want your e-mail, it wants your user name.....I hope some "refinements" are in the works.

- fbraconi

January 31, 2013 at 2:11pm

Can’t find anything? It occurs to me that TNR is now telling us what we should be reading.

- lala

January 31, 2013 at 2:21pm

Friday Jan 31, 4:00...........I show this because, well, how else would you know? I was just starting to (reluctantly) embrace the new navigation paradigm: a splashy but hugely uninformative home page, then a merciful escape into "Our Latest" so I could browse all content chronologically. It wasn't ideal, but it was workable. Now today, Our Latest lists just five (5) articles, with a notation "no more articles to load." What the hell?? Where can I find (for example) the article from two days ago called "ObamaCare Sticker Shock". At the time, it bore the category title "Safety Net." Is that a real category? Don't see it at the bottom. TNR - PLEASE provide your loyal subscribers with some kind of user's guide to the new site, along with an explanation of issues you're still working on. Thanks, Randy

- frb631

January 31, 2013 at 4:03pm

willing to overlook the new design (which is objectionable for many reasons-aesthetic, utilitarian- i was expecting to be able to read the magazine as i have done regularly these past years. i have been reading it as a pdf, an accomodation that i came too after 9/11, when the NR seemed no longer able to send an issue to France and have it be received in a timely manner. now it appears that there is no longer a pdf format available for download, and my variously clicking on whatnot isn't a practical way for me to read this. what to do?

- marco666

February 2, 2013 at 8:22am

I agree with DAVID123, at least partly. I really enjoy printing out a paper copy to read as a magazine and hope it will be added to your offer. Maybe it is there already, but there is no way to find it. I have an Ipad and downloaded your previous issue, enjoying reading it in magazine format. Hope that can be done again.

- flmillner

February 2, 2013 at 11:12am

The new design is cluttered, distracting and derivative of several other "re-designed" publications. It looks most like "The Atlantic". The articles, if the current issue is an indicator, have become distinctly less interesting, focused and in-depth.

- kacomess

February 6, 2013 at 11:12am

Since my initial response to the new design was both surprise (even though I new it was coming) and off-put, I elected not to comment immediately on it. Sometimes something new strikes badly on first shot, especially when its a revamp of something you cared about, and I really cared about TNR. Initial read is not representative - after awhile you've seen it a number of times, you tend to get used to it. "Let me see if I will get used to this". So I put it off and have been waiting to get used to it. Well, I waited. For one - I never used to think twice before popping in to see what's going on at TNR. Now I think twice or three times and usually I only actually drop in after three times. For another - I used to spend a lot of time on TNR. Now I leave as quickly as I can. And another - someone wrote above, and others repeated, and I repeat ... this is just physically hard to use. Working out is always hard ... but working out with improper form harms you. Reading TNR has become like working out with improper form. It is harming me. And another ... I have ALWAYS come to TNR for sensible liberal commentary. Sensible. Liberal. Commentary. What a perfect mix - like something you cannot find ANYWHERE else. TNR has long been a corrective I could reliably apply to splitting conservatives who could or would not distinguish between left-center liberalism and fill-in: socialism, Marxism, communism or catch-all "leftism". I guess I can't use it that way anymore. Since I already have CNN and NPR to pretend to be objective, the National Review and Weekly Standard to be conservative, loon-bats at the Tea Party and Fox to be loon bats, the Nation to be unsensibly liberal and various sources of genuine Marxism if such sources or Marxism were even relevant ... what use have I now for TNR? And for gods sake, the italic comments? Did any of you take 1st semester electronic media? Why not underline everything, or put it all in caps, or boldface it? Lastly - I don't want to be told that this is good for me from someone paid to say so. That's how we had the mortgage/financial crisis, and you know how that went.

- dcwood10

February 6, 2013 at 3:17pm

I assume one thing bringing about the redesign was readership. Have you tried simple advertising in Facebook? Just target readers who indicate anything suggesting "Democrat" by way of their likes. I would even target people who "like" the National Review since they'll probably be interested in the cross-arguments. The Democratic Position needs something fitting into the space of TNR. That TNR didn't find its market doesn't mean that it didn't have a market. The problem was not the medium, or the message, the problem was the marketing. The redesign does not correct that problem. As far as I can tell it makes it worse. I just can't recommend this to folks ... someone who isn't vested in this will simply find it too difficult to navigate and find something that has personal appeal. In the old design someone completely new to the site and to TNR could spend less than three minutes reviewing the site before finding something of interest.

- dcwood10

February 7, 2013 at 8:17am

In the past, I have really enjoyed TNR and I'll continue to subscribe at least for a few months longer. I also appreciate the attempt to resurrect it, but good God, this website is unreadable. I can't stress enough the need to consider the comments here. There's too much white space, its impossible to find anything, you've sacrificed clarity for some sort of "clever" design that reminds me of a tumblr. I would strongly suggest not assuming that your readers will just figure out how to use this new design, and try to fix this as soon as possible. Get some new focus groups-- anything. There's always been good content on TNR; there's really no reason to hide it for the sake of aesthetics, especially given this particularly mediocre redesign.

- cam85

February 26, 2013 at 3:58pm

Up to now I could not believe that you killed the PDF. Actually you are trying to give me bits of information while I paid for a magazine. I would rather call that suicidal than a redesign. Anybody reading those comments? Anyone else got a response?

- fgranzeuer

March 8, 2013 at 4:16am