Portfolio, Conde Nast's new glossy business mag, has Felix Salmon, the best financial markets blogger out there. That, I get. The magazine itself, not so much. People read business magazines because they have to know what's in them for work . . . only nothing in Portfolio is a must read. I mean, I know its supposed to be a sort of glossy lifestyle magazine for the hedge fund set . . . but those kinds of magazines make most of their money advertising a lifestyle to people who haven't achieved it yet. Most of Vanity Fair's readers can't afford to buy Prada bags or Dolce and Gabbana suits; they're buying a technicolor fantasy.
In the hedge fund world, the glossy format kinda works against you. It's hard to dreamily envision yourself on your eighty foot yacht when the pictures make clear that if you ever get there, you'll probably be a short fifty year old man with a potbelly and a blackberry constantly going off in your ear.
The formidable Elizabeth Spiers has a more complete examination of it's flaws.
A few business mags are of work value to people in the financial services industry. But most are just selling pablum advice (10 Hot Stocks To Own Now!!!) and lifestyle (i.e. wealth) porn. The Onion had a great spoof on them a while back. The article described the launch of "Pompous Asshole" magazine.
Posted by Claudius | August 24, 2007 11:41 AM