Backward Runs 'Newsweek'

New Republic by Michael Kinsley | May. 22, 2009 (Opinion)

The new Newsweek, judging from the first issue (which Meacham calls "a model of the form"), bizarrely resembles the old Newsweek more than the new Newsweek Meacham describes. It is cluttered with departments and headlines and labels and tiny features, all of which imply some hierarchy or order in the editors' minds, but only add to the chaos in the readers'. Its longer pieces follow all the stale conventions of newsmagazine prose. Full Story »

Posted by Derek Hawkins - via New Republic

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Subjects: Business, Sci/Tech, Media
Topics: Internet, Journalism, Mainstream Media
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Posted by: Posted by Derek Hawkins - May 22, 2009 - 12:49 AM PDT
Reviewed by: Derek Hawkins (review), Vincent Caminiti (review), Jonothon (review), Mark Steele (review)
Content Type: Article
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Edited by: Derek Hawkins - May 22, 2009 - 12:49 AM PDT

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Derek Hawkins
4.0
 by Derek Hawkins - May. 22, 2009

Great critique of the new Newsweek. Kinsley asks some key questions, arguing that the magazine's new model is less innovative and fresh than its editors have presented.

Agreed. I find Newsweek's makeover uninspiring and its features kitschy.

Derek posted this story.
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Vincent Caminiti
3.8
 by Vincent Caminiti - May. 24, 2009

This opinion piece by Kinsley is a well-written critique of Newsweek. It seems to me that Jon Meacham probably is more interested in Kinsley's perspective than one might think. It was highly critical but never disrespectful. A voice often disregarded in opinion pieces where flashy smackdowns resembling high school cafeteria debacles are more common. It is the effect of permitting marketing leadership to trump journalism - and further feed the publics appetite for vendetta. The opinion piece was thoughtful, factual and in way showed courage.

Jon Meacham has historically, not been a knee-jerk reactionary - in fact - his mild temperament, reflective demeanor and intellectual curiosity are essentially trademark Meacham. He's also a decent human being to heroic standards. My money is on him being able to transform Newsweek into a meaningful digest successfully interconnecting its content between tactile and virtual delivery and discovering a vialbe business and healthy journalistic model for the future.

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Jonothon
2.7
 by Jonothon - May. 26, 2009
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