The New Yorker magazine is getting a complete online redesign and opening up its archives free to Internet readers for the remainder of the summer.
That should make beach reading on a tablet or e-reader a bit more exciting, as readers can check out a number of selected historical articles as well as the plethora of content the magazine has published since 2007.
A paywall regarding content is expected later this fall, but until then fans can browse to their heart's content, including Hannah Arendt's controversial take on the Adolf Eichmann trial.
The magazine, which is owned by Conde Nast, is hoping the new strategy will help boost interest and subscribers. The magazine currently has a print run of around one million copies and sees 12 million unique visitors to its site.
In a "letter to readers" introducing the new website, the New Yorker said "editorial and tech teams have been sardined into a boiler room, subsisting only on stale cheese sandwiches and a rationed supply of tap water" in a bid to get the new site up and running.
Already, much media attention has been given to the new look site and it appears to be positive support from those in the same field. The magazine, known for its solid discussion pieces and commentaries on social issues, as well as its fiction section, is one of the few print magazines who have maintained a strong showing despite the Internet age.
The design appears sleek, simply and yet maintains the balance between quirky and modern with the traditional feel that it had previously. This should help to bring in new readers while not alienating and losing the readers who have been New Yorker followers for decades.
With many print magazines seeing the end of their print run, The New Yorker could be among the first to fully move away from the print at some point in the near future. The new site should help them at least have the option to make a go at being online, or at least focusing on the online version of the magazine going forward.
