File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1996/96-10-18.130, message 68


Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:04:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: Justin Schwartz <jschwart-AT-freenet.columbus.oh.us>
Subject: Re: Reflections on the demise of CrossRoads



Doug's remarks on Crossroads, appended below, are dead-on. I had a sub to
Crossroads as a makeup when Solidarity's Independent Politics folded, and
although the Crossroads articles were short and I'm a believer, I never
got through them. I cannot say that I ever learned anything from the
magazine. If we get a new publication going, we have to learn from the
weaknesses of efforts like Crossroads; likewise the old People's Weekly
World, a similarly dull effort.

Carl Davidson's attention to the material basis of a new publication, its
business aspects, are commendable. If we are to do this thing, we have to
think about what we are trying to do with it, aprt from the vague,
geberal,a nd uninformative notion of "building a revolutionary movement."
What would a left publication of this sort be? How would it be positioned
to do something not being done by, say, Z Magazine, Against the Current,
The Progressive, etc? Doubtless these are all worthy efforts, but the are
not adequate by themselves. What would the New Publication be doing?

I think the idea of having it run by journalists who can write for a wider
audience is good. Who might these be? Cockburn and Silverstein have their
own rag, Counterpunch, a useful publication. But they're busy. Likewhise
Doug has his hands full with LBO. Any ideas? Ther think would require a
proper, fulltime staff with a long term commitment.

Any ideas?

--Justin Schwartz



On Wed, 16 Oct 1996, Doug Henwood wrote:

> A footnote to Lou Proyect's observations on Crossroads magazine.
> 
> Sure there are many political problems behind it - including the
> ossification of the CoC and DSA types who were its core. But
> journalistically speaking, it was death itself. Dull dull dull. The worst
> combination of Old Style rigidity and modern PC iconography. The subject
> matter and writing were only of interest to the already-converted. There's
> no reason that someone who wasn't already a true believer would want to
> pick up a copy and read past the contents page. This is a serious problem
> with all "left" writing today, but Crossroads had one of the worst cases of
> this I'd ever seen.
> 
> Doug
> 
> --
> 
> Doug Henwood
> Left Business Observer
> 250 W 85 St
> New York NY 10024-3217
> USA
> +1-212-874-4020 voice
> +1-212-874-3137 fax
> email: <dhenwood-AT-panix.com>
> web: <http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html>
> 
> 





   

Driftline Main Page

 

Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005