posted
That's right. I can no longer subscribe to Newsweek.
The covers are getting fluffier. It used to be that there was three or four fluff covers a year - about one a season. One on future technology. One health cover. The rest of the time, Newsweek stuck to, well, news. There was a cover article on the AIDS crisis in Africa four or five years ago that made me cry and made me care. The page of quotes always has and still does make me laugh.
But things have changed.
There is an entire regular section devoted to reveiws of consumer goods - stuff that no one really needs and that Newsweek is promoting with the same zeal and cluelessness that the NYT promotes star architects. The movie section is more and more risible - simply shills for whatever blockbuster movie comes next. The general interest cover articles are more and more imitating a more-expensive OMNI instead of a compact Atlantic Monthly.
This last week, the star of the cover article was a phone that has all the bleeding-edge widgets that may come. That's right - a prototype they dreamed up. Not something that currently exists, or even that will exist. Not coverage of the scientific miracles that do abound. Instead, an entire cover story devoted to yet another parade beeping consumer goods. This isn't news; this is Lucky.
I've been thinking about it for a while. I've noticed that since I started reading the Atlantic and Entertainment Weekly, there was been less and less of Newsweek that is of interest. The articles on abortion are always so pro-abortion you wonder if anyone on the staff even realizes there may be another side. The My Turns are consistently whiny or star-struck.
The only bright spot left is the quote page and Fareed Zhakeria, whom I have to admit I have a crush on. That used to be enough. I don't think it's enough anymore. The time to renew the subscription is coming up, and I find myself...reluctant.
But if there is no Newsweek, what should I replace it with? I listen to NPR most days, but I enjoy lying on the couch reading in-depth articles. I don't have a television, so all news channels are out - even if I could muster up some respect for that entertainment-driven crapfest. I don't want Time - they are far enough left it ticks me off most of the time.
What I want is the Atlantic, only in weekly installments. Does anyone know of a magazine they could set me up with?
posted
Hmm.... I bought the Economist in an airport last fall, and it didn't make me a fan. I can't remember why, now.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Yeah well I was disappointed in National Geographic's cover this month.
I mean yes I realize they are left leaning when it comes to environmental policy.
But to have a cover with "THE END OF CHEAP OIL" in huge font was extremely disappointing. The stuff they covered inside doesn't have a lot to do with their title either.
ticked me off, though they always have enough interesting content that I will continue to subscribe.
posted
Hmm... I already get the Atlantic. I love it, but I usually just finish reading it from cover to cover at the end of the month. I think I need something weekly.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I dunno about weeklies. That's too much content for me; I don't have enough time. Or at least I didn't when I was in school and I won't when I land a job.
For daily and weekly news, I stick to news.google.ca
Edit: Heck, Harper's is monthly and I'm always behind an issue or two on my readings... probably because I insist on reading almost everything.
posted
This is partly what made me sad about U.S. News & World Report. They cut back their actual Science and Technology sections in favor of more gizmo reviews and popular culture.
I used to look at it as a more serious alternative to where Newsweek and Time were, but now I think they're all pretty much the same.
Maybe I should stick to NPR. Posts: 1592 | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
Yeah, U.S. News has started to tick me off lately. For that matter, every third cover is about the "religious phenomenon in America." And their editorials have been sliding, too; that stupid medical editor just rehases and summaries the main medical article, and the two primary editorial columns have spent months justifying the war in Iraq through Zionism.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
All the weeklies have gotten fluffier. I saw an old issue of Newsweek from the late 70s -- it had larger pages, MORE pages, and smaller type. Newsweek is so small now that if I actually want to, I could read a whole issue in an hour or less...
European weeklies have lots more content... back in 2000 when I was over in Europe, I remember being impressed with how much bigger the European weeklies were, I think it was Die Stern that was 200-300 pages long and had something like 25-30 pages on international news...
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
There's a weekly version of the Guardian, I'd love to get that, but it's ~$100/year or something like that, eep...
There's also a weekly that's a combination of articles from Le Monde, the Washington Post, and the Guardian, but I don't know how good that one is.
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
oh, and this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but i have found that jane far out ranks other chick mags if you indeed have a brain and sense of irony or wit.
Posts: 3936 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
For cutting edge investigative journalism, do what millions of housewives do and read The National Enquirer. It is much better than The Globe or The Star and will give you real insight on who is having Bigfoot's baby and why Hillary Clinton is sleeping with aliens.
Posts: 279 | Registered: May 2004
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