How Britain lost its Punch

By Gayle MacDonald and Michael Posner
London, England

Punch--the oldest English-language satirical magazine--has been pulled. Its owner, Egyptian tycoon Mohammed al-Fayed, announced yesterday that, "with deep regret," he is closing the 161-year-old London-based publication immediately, citing declining circulation and heavy financial losses.

"Punch is a British institution, » Mr. Al-Fayed said in a statement. "I have done everything in my power to keep Punch alive ... But as a businessman, the head has to triumph over the heart."

The final edition of the magazine went on sale Monday. An on-line version of the fortnightly magazine, however, will continue, with four of the magazine's 12 editorial staff. From a peak of 175,000 in the 1940s, circulation has plummeted to less than 6,000. Its British rival Private Eye, claimed a circulation of almost 190,000 in 2001. In recent years, media writers had complained that Punch had lost its edge. In 2000, it lost virtually all its star columnists, among them Anil Bhoyrul, James Hipwell, George Best, Jono Coleman, gossip writer Chris Hutchings, Debbie Barham, John McVicar and editor James Steen.

"The market for the sort of sophisticated political satire, which was the trademark of Punch, has diminished over the years," said Chester Stern, a spokesman for Mr. Al-Fayed.

"There isn't an appetite for that subtle, tongue-in-cheek debunking of politics. It's now the in-your-face sort of stuff ... We're not able to find a niche."

Asked to comment on the de-mise of Punch, Michael Bate, publisher of Canada's satiric fortnightly Frank, said: "Punch? Who dat? Sorry, wasn't paying attention. Didn't even know it was alive. It's impossible to sell a magazine that relies strictly on humour-satire-parody. People don't read any more. Spy [which closed in 19981 wouldn't survive today because lead time on stories is too long. You need short turnarounds to maintain the tempo."

In fact, Punch's barbed tongue was silenced once before, in 1992 -only to be rescued by Mr. Al Fayed's long credit lines. There followed a brief resurgence, as Punch took vitriolic aim at the British establishment, ridiculing the likes of press baron Rupert Murdoch ("Murdoch By His Butler"), and Peter Mandelson, a powerful member of the Tony Blair cabinet. First published in 1841 by wood engraver Ebenezer Landells and writer Henry Mayhew, the magazine took its name from the puppet that appeared on its covers until 1954; it borrowed the concept from a satirical French daily, Charivari. In the first edition, editor Mark Lemon wrote: "Punch hangs the devil."

The early years were financially tenuous as well, until Mr. Lemon conceived of publishing an annual Almanac. The first installment sold 90,000 copies, and Punch was launched.

According to its editors, the secret of Punch's survival was "its ability to find the wavelength of an age."

Radical in its infancy, it tempered its criticism as the decade passed, and then renewed its attacks under the editorship of Malcolm Muggeridge in the 1950s. Hi successor, Bernard Hollowood, finally abandoned the old cover. And William Davis engineered a number of coups, including a full-scale parody of Playboy.

Over the years, it incurred wrath-and the libel writs- dozens of its angry subjects. In past three years alone, it faced 41 Iegal disputes, losing just seven cases. Among its adversaries: a deputy prime minister, the son of a former prime minister, a duke, a viscount, two world-famous singers, an international bank, mercenaries, a detective inspector, two boxing promoters, Stanley Kubrick, the BBC and the British government.