A New Russian Magazine with a Familiar Look

A new Russian magazine bootlegged its look and feel from the New Yorker

All Things Considered, November 20, 2004 · When people talk about the export of American culture, they often speak of Hollywood movies, rap music, or fast food. But highbrow American fare has also made it across the globe -- in the form of a new magazine now on newsstands in Russia.

Novy Ochevidets, or The New Eyewitness, bears thought-provoking cover artwork, black and white cartoons and a mix of news and arts features in a glossy three-column layout -- a dead ringer for the American weekly The New Yorker. But The New Eyewitness has no connection with The New Yorker, which does not license its name or layout and has no foreign language editions.

In the land of pirating, where entire open markets sell bootlegged CDs and software, lifting content is nothing new. "Everybody here in Moscow… was talking about how it would be wonderful to read something like The New Yorker," New Eyewitness Editor Sergei Mostovshchikov tells NPR's Martha Wexler. "So we made something that looks like it, and that was the point."


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