The point of publications like The New Republic isn't to make money; it's to be loss-leaders for political influence. You get that political influence by writi

The point of publications like The New Republic isn't to make money; it's to be loss-leaders for political influence. You get that political influence by writing articles that play at the edges of elite opinion, via writers and editors hooked up into the elite. Dropping writers and editors and attempting to turn it into a mass-market publication throws away every valuable asset they have.