R.I.P. Arthur Magazine

Sad to hear this week that Jay Babcock has called time on the online incarnation of what once was the print-based Arthur Magazine.

I guess Arthur pushed the neo-hippy self-parody buttons a bit hard at times, but whilst I’ve rarely felt the urge to sit in a teepee drinking organic hemp-wine listening to Bright Back Morning Light or whatever*, it was a mag that always walked the walk re: excellent writing and compelling, well-researched, *long* articles on a wide range of topics, along with a consistent commitment to DIY culture and humanist ideals that is applaudable indeed.

The post-print industry apocalypse online edition of the mag was, in effect, a real good weblog/nerve-centre for the kinda stuff the paper version championed, and I’ll be sad to see it go.

Admittedly, I don’t really see why a dedicated stream of cash-moneys is necessary to post some links to cool shit on a weblog once every couple of days, but Babcock sounds pretty bummed on the whole deal re: not being able to do a print edition really, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt if he wants to cut his losses and move on.

I guess we can take solace in the fact that decent/principled periodicals are rarely afforded much of a shelf-life at the best of times. It’s not like there was ever much of a window in which you could pop down the newsagents and pick up Zap! Comix or International Times or Who Put The Bomp? or Punk or Roller Derby or Careless Talk Costs Lives or whatever right, and the kind of obstacles they faced count doubly for the situation in the past few years, triply so when yr trying to put the damn thing out for free.

Still though, the fact that Arthur has hit such a shoulder-shrug of a dead-end while Vice is still roaring on as a record label, TV station, venue proprietor etc speaks of a massive FAIL in regard to this generation’s culture war. Not our fault I guess, just further depressing proof that if you want a media venture to have legs these days, you’ve gotta get some cash behind it. And we all know who’s got the $$$ and what you’ve got to do to get it.

*Actually, screw that, I think I’d probably love some organic hemp-wine, if anyone’s got any..?

Labels: Arthur magazine, bad news, deathblog