Bhaskar Sunkara is confident  that the UK's Tribune can emulate the success of the American Jacobin.

Bhaskar Sunkara
IT IS PERHAPS an indication of the rising ascendancy of the British left that Bhaskar Sunkara, publisher and editor of Jacobin magazine, is confident that he can make a go of Tribune magazine.

First published in 1937,  Tribune is ostensibly an independent publication but it has long been recognised as an important forum for the left wing of the British Labour Party. It was an intractable opponent of Tony Blair's 'New Labour' and in recent years it continued to be a critic of 'Third Way' politics and centrism.

But also in recent years it has struggled financially and in 2018 its longtime editor, Chris McLaughlin, announced the publication would be taking a “short break, undertaking a fundamental review of most aspects of the paper based on new sources of funding”.

That new source of funding has come via the American Jacobin magazine. Bhaskar Sunkara, on behalf of Jacobin, bought Tribune earlier this year.

Jacobin, established by Sunkara in 2011, has been something of a publishing success story for the American left and is now widely regarded as being the country's most influential socialist publication. Its not entirely a coincidence that its success has coincided with the revival of American socialism and its growing prominence.

George Orwell : Joined the Tribune in 1943.
Once a newspaper, the Tribune switched to a magazine format in the 2000's but its circulation continued to decline and was reported to have fallen to 5,000 copies an issue. Sunkara though is confident that the circulation can be substantially increased. He told The Guardian:

“A publication like this can be sustainable and doesn’t have to rely on wealthy benefactors. You can find 10,000 subscribers willing to pay for quality, critical journalism and long-form analysis. Our goal is to make money so that it’s self-sustaining. We’re self-funding it through Jacobin but there’s very little up front needed for this. I think there’s some benefit for incumbents because you don’t have to start from scratch.”

The first issue of the new Tribune appeared this week. It features an influx of new writers and columnists and a swept up layout a little reminiscent of Jacobin. The website also went live this week.



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