Cipher

We’re going to turn things around by being likeThe Economist.” That line is beginning to rival “10 secrets to perfect abs” for the title of most overused magazine cliché. It has been a mantra for America’s weekly news magazines for three years now, and as The New York Times reported last week, it has spread to several other magazine genres.

It’s a logical impulse. While other magazines are hemorrhaging readers and laying off staff, The Economist's circulation has doubled in the past seven years and its ad pages have steadily increased, even as it remains unusually expensive to both readers and advertisers.

But while raising subscription and newsstand prices might not be a bad idea, trying to imitateThe Economist in other ways is a fool’s errand. The news weeklies can never be like The Economist, no matter how hard they try. Here are the four main reasons why.4. They don’t understand what The Economist is

Time and Newsweek seem to think The Economist is an opinion journal, and that emulating it is simply a matter of adding more analysis, a stronger editorial viewpoint, and maybe cleverer covers. In 2006, Newsweek editor-in-chief Jon Meacham told the New York Observer, “The Economist doesn’t even attempt to do original reporting, particularly.” He’s wrong. Last week'sEconomist, a typical issue, published stories datelined Tallinn, Colombo, and Lagos. A little help for you Newsweek readers out there: those cities are located in Estonia, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria. But instead of filling their articles with self-serving quotes from government ministers you’ve never heard of, The Economist’s correspondents just give you the essential facts and a meaningful takeaway, whether the information came from their own reporting, the local press, or some obscure think tank.

3. They can’t win over the finance crowd

In a quote that The Economist leveraged for one of its savvy ad campaigns, billionaire Larry Ellison said, “I used to think. Now, I just read The Economist.” The...