Why all the criticism of Portfolio?

Forbes.com columnist Gary Weiss wonders whether all of the crticism levied at new business journalism magazine Conde Nast Portfolio is really warranted.

Weiss wrote, “We journalists are unique in the animal kingdom in that we feed on our young. (OK, maybe pussycats do that too … whatever.) One example is the constant barrage of criticism directed at the new Conde Nast biz magazine, Portfolio. Here’s one. Here’s another.

“Look, they’re probably right. The first issue underwhelmed me, and I’m not exactly running to the newsstand for the second one. But I am starting to wonder if the constant slamming on Portfolio isn’t going a bit overboard. After all, are the competitors all that much better?

“There are only a dwindling number of periodicals left that engage in long-form narrative journalism. Even a flawed outlet for this vanishing species is better than nothing.”

Read more here. The second issue came in the mail today, and I was attracted to a number of the stories, whereas the that was not the case with the first issue.