Welcome back to another edition of FishbowlNY’s weekly Cover Battle. This week we have ESPN The Magazine versus The New Republic. ESPN went with a photo of RGIII holding a deflated balloon in his mouth. Deflated like the Redskins’ future if he doesn’t recover well from his injury! Ha! That was… Well, that was an okay joke.

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In a New Republic piece titled “Get Rich or Deny Trying,” a former advisor to President Obama is quoted saying “There’s only one paper the president reads, that’s The New York Times.” Now before all you haters (Mitt, you’re turning red man, try breathing) blast Big O, let’s think this through.

Is it possible that the president only reads the Times? In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, Obama said he reads the Times, but also The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. As The Huffington Post notes, this was the second time Obama mentioned perusing those three papers. Obama has also admitted that he enjoyed magazines like The New Yorker and The Atlantic. He even mentioned FishbowlNY as a “Great blog run by ruggedly handsome dudes who can throw fantastic spirals.”* 

It certainly doesn’t seem like Obama limits his paper intake to the Times. He has mentioned WaPo and WSJ and the quote in the New Republic is from an anonymous ex-advisor. However, that probably doesn’t matter. Haters, as they say, are going to hate. The media will cry that the White House has a Times bias and Republicans are going to fire up the rage machine. But give the president some credit: At least we know he can read. That’s more than we could say about George W. 

* - This is not true.
[Image: Business Insider]

Timothy Noah, columnist and senior editor for The New Republic, was unexpectedly fired last Friday. Unsurprisingly, he now has a couple thoughts to share about Chris Hughes, the magazine’s relatively new owner.

Noah told Politico in an email that he was let go because he didn’t agree with the direction of TNR under Hughes’ reign. He felt that Hughes wanted to create a New Yorker replica, and that was a bad idea. An understandable position, and really, not that harsh.

The most stinging criticism from Noah? This:

I quietly changed the headline [because of Hughes' opposition to it] to the somewhat clumsy, ‘Farewell, Filibusteringest Senator’ and quietly worried whether the magazine’s new owner (who around that time also told an audience at the Kennedy School that he’d like to co-brand a chain of cafes called the New Republic) might be a young man with more money than sense.

Not much “quiet” about that.

Welcome back to another round of FishbowlNY’s Cover Battle. This week we have The New Republic versus Complex. TNR went with an excellent illustration of two birds. Or are they dolphins? If they’re dolphins they sure have short beaks. Or are those snouts? Next week on FishbowlNY: 31 Things You Need to Know About Dolphin Noses. Don’t steal that, BuzzFeed.

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The whirlwind surrounding the New Republic continued last night as Chris Hughes, editor-in-chief and publisher of the magazine, threw a party to celebrate the glossy. Since those in the publishing business love nothing more than to hobnob with people just like them, there was a slew of big names in attendance.

Now you might be saying “I don’t care about yet another event full of media people congratulating themselves for being themselves” but we know you do! Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. So allow us to give you what you want, a list of people who went to Hughes’ shindig, via The Huffington Post.

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The New Republic is back in a big way. The magazine, which began publishing all the way back in 1914, has a new print design (orchestrated by Dirk Barnett) and a new website — both of which are great. It also landed a big interview with Barack Obama for its latest issue.

Because of all of this, TNR is getting everyone’s attention. But if the hype has you thinking “Hey, maybe my magazine will work after all!” FishbowlNY is here to tell you that it won’t. We’re sorry, but it just won’t. Here is why:

• Your magazine is not owned by Chris Hughes. Hughes bought TNR last March. He was a co-founder of a tiny site called Facebook and has a net worth of about $700 million. Those millions are necessary to launch a magazine and let’s be honest, you do not have those millions.

Old logo.

New logo.

The above is the first step in the revamping of The New Republic. The new logo, according to the magazine’s creative director, Dirk Barnett, conveys that TNR is “is about big, bold ideas.” Barnett also says the updated logo is “energetic.”

We kind of like it. While it might not be exciting, it is certainly more modern than the old one. But who cares what we think, we want to know what you think. Let us know by voting below.

Michael Kinsley is going back to his roots. According to The Huffington Post, Kinsley is returning to The New Republic, where he once worked for 20 years, as an editor-at-large. Kinsley was most recently with Bloomberg View, but he will leave that position in March.

“Mike Kinsley is a legend in the world of journalism, and we are fortunate to be welcoming him back home to The New Republic,” Chris Hughes, publisher and editor-in-chief of TNR, told HuffPost in a written statement. “His writerly wit and editorial voice left an indelible mark on the place when he edited the magazine 25 years ago. Much has changed since then, but Mike’s talents are timeless. He will be an incredibly important resource as we reinvent the magazine for a new age.”

At TNR, Kinsley will focus on interviews.

Dirk Barnett, the man behind Newsweek’s look for the last two years, is leaving to become creative director of The New Republic. Barnett is widely respected in the design world, so this is a great hire by TNR.

Politico reports that Lindsay Ballant will succeed Barnett at Newsweek.

Here’s a look at what FishbowlNY made the most online buzz this week.

1. Signs in Air for WFAN to Make FM Jump, July 6
2. Wondering Why WNYW/Channel 5 Made Those Anchor Changes, July 10
3. Self Launching Fashion Site, July 6
4. Road & Track Adds Two Editors, July 9
5. The New Republic Gives Kate Middleton a New Look, July 6
6. New York Times‘ Social Media Policy: Use Common Sense, Idiot, July 11

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