Does anybody else miss the old Reader’s Digest? Seven years ago, I wrote about the magazine’s decline in a lengthy, reported article for NRODT. One of my central points was that the Digest, in a desperate and unwise attempt to reinvent itself, was abandoning the conservative values that had made it a popular success in the first place.

Now comes this, according to the NYT:

After years of trying to broaden the appeal of Reader’s Digest, the publishers are pushing it in a decidedly conservative direction. It is cutting down on celebrity profiles and ramping up on inspiring spiritual stories. Out are generic how-to magazine features; in are articles about military life.
“It’s traditional, conservative values: I love my family, I love my community, I love my church,” said Mary Berner, the president and chief executive of Reader’s Digest Association.

We’ll see if it works. If it’s an authentic switch, I’ll cheer them on. But this passage makes me worry the move is supremely cynical:

The editorial team had even considered turning Reader’s Digest into a right-wing handbook, a companion to Fox News. “It was a supposition,” Ms. Berner said, that half the country is annoyed that Barack Obama is president.
“What if we just go after them?” said Ms. Berner, who has a framed photograph of President Obama in her office.

In the past, Reader’s Digest appealed to conservatives not because it viewed them as a demographic to “go after,” but rather because it employed them as editors and writers. Their values enlivened its pages. If the reboot is simply a case of liberals putting out a magazine that they think will win over conservatives, then the Digest will continue its sad and drawn-out death spiral.