Bush Sells

The Bush administration is doing its part to save both liberal and conservative opinion mags. According to this NYT biz piece, The Nation enjoyed "a huge spike in orders beginning the day after the election," according to the mag's circulation VP. Overall circulation has doubled to 184,000 (says the mag) since Bush took office.

Same story at the monthly Progressive, which reports that paid circulation is up 72 percent since Bush came to Washington. The American Prospect reports a 27 percent increase since last year, to 60,189.

Conservative presidents are usually good for liberal magazines' subscription totals, but this one has been good for right-wing mags, too. The American Spectator is up 18 percent (the only number it would share with the NYT), The Weekly Standard has gone from 61,542 paid subs in 2003 to 73,710 last year, and National Review increased its readership by 20 percent in 2004, to 173,815.

Such mags as the usually liberal New Republic that aren't as clearly (or predictably?) for or against Bush policies—especially the Iraq war—apparently haven't gotten the same bounce. reason is neither liberal nor conservative to begin with, and (as far as I know) its circulation is never influenced by—or should I say "captive to"?—presidential controversy.