The Future of Business Media conference happening at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York hasn’t produced any bombshells yet, but there was this surprise from a marketing perspective: The Economist is not a business magazine.

Er… The Economist? Here’s what Susan Clark said. She is the global marketing director and publisher for Continental Europe, the Middle East and Africa:

“We are really not a business magazine. Our readers, who are definitely business people, turn to us for a different purpose,” she said during a panel discussion with executives from BusinessWeek, Mansueto Ventures and Conde Nast’s Portfolio magazine.

That purpose, she said, is to provide a general roundup of current affairs happening throughout the world; a news magazine, in other words. Not only that, The Economist is more of a sipping magazine. She envisions the magazine, which is mostly delivered to home addresses, as part of a Saturday afternoon ritual — two hours reading The Economist along with an open bottle of wine.

No complaints here about that business model.