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February 20, 2008

Monocle “churnalism free” says Brule

By Rachael Gallagher

A year after the launch of Monocle founder Tyler Brûlé claims his monthly global affairs title is still ‘Churnalism free”.

The magazine’s editor-in-chief and chairman Brûlé insisted that, as with the launch issue, his magazine still has no copy that is driven by PRs, press releases or newswires, and said that his demand for ‘good old-fashioned journalism’has given his title the recognition it deserves.

He said: ‘We’re not in a PR company’s pocket or an advertiser’s pocket and we’ve come by these stories honestly and had to pay for them ourselves to get them in the magazine or online.”

Brûlé took a five-year gap from the editor’s chair between leaving style monthly Wallpaper* and launching Monocle. Noting the changes in the industry over that period he said: ‘There’s been quite a significant change in the power that the advertiser has and the power that the PR companies have in terms of trying to strong-arm media outlets. I think it is happening everywhere – part of the problem is yes there has been an explosion in media, but it doesn’t mean there has been an explosion in quality media.”

Monocle claims to have bureaux in Tokyo, New York and Zurich and revealed that a new one is to open up in South America. Brûlé said Monocle’s recent appointment of the Telegraph’s Sofie Arie as the magazine’s foreign editor is proof that journalists on the broadsheets have their eye on Monocle.

Monocle claims it has achieved its projected circulation of 150,000.

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