I was saddened to read this week that Tribune is likely to fold Not so much because it is a fantastic read. It's not. But at one time Tribune truly was the voice of the Labour Left.In its heyday in the 1940's and 1950's , contributors included such luminaries as George Orwell, Harold Laski, Aneurin Bevan and J B Priestley.There was also of course the Tribune Group of MPs which at one time had almost 100 Parliamentarians. The Sunday night rallies at Labour Party Conference were THE event to go to.
Tribune lost its way with the demise of the Tribune Group , which started with the schism in 1981 over Tony Benn's candidature for the Deputy leadership . Chris Mullin was editor for a bit then Mark Seddon, whose departure a couple of years ago also left it floundering.
I cancelled my subscription some years ago. Why? Because there really wasn't any point in Tribune any more. Mildly critical of New Labour, but not really offering any serious analysis, its content had become anodyne and largely provided by ex-hacks from the Daily Mirror, no doubt doing favours to their former colleague Chris McLaughlin. Fair enough given the plightof the publication - but not a challenging read. The Letters page had the same contributors every fortnight and the Diary page was simply awful. Reviews likewise. Neither a newspaper nor a magazine, neither left nor New Labour, Tribune has simply lost its way.
Yet there is a space for a serious left publication. Last year the Labour Briefing AGM made the (wrong) decision not to become LRC Briefing. Websites are great and in some respects they have replaced the printed word - but political journals still I think have a role to fill. If Tribune does bite the dust, I hope the Labour left can re-claim something from the ashes. In the early 1980's there was a short-lived but excellent publication called New Socialist ( nothing to do with New Labour) . Maybe the title should be revived......
Friday, 10 October 2008
WHY TRIBUNE IS DYING
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3 comments:
"Mildly critical of New Labour"
Are you actually being serious here?
Yes.
I've always found that reading Tribune is something that you think you should do but never quite can do because it's 85%-90% no good.
Not the fault of their current editorial team, who do an amazing job getting it out but you can't produce a high quality weekly 32-page magazine by letting people write about what they want for free.
There is, to put it in capitalist terms, a gap in market for a professional, readable magazine covering the broad spectrum of views and traditions on the Labour Left. Whether it would be possible for Tribune to be turned into it is another matter.
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