2 Comments

Graham Combs
October 24th, 2012 | 4:48 pm

I remember reading Newsweek for my civics class at Bishop Foley HS (this lay teacher also taught economics and was in fact one of only two or three teachers I recall fondly — the rest were turning into radical nuns, priests, etc. then ex nuns, ex priests etc.) Each issue was fat and reported on high and low. It provoked discussions on the Cooper Church Amendment as well as provided me with an introduction to lifelong fandom of my favorite British group (they practiced their big hit in a church basement). I don’t see Jim Kelly’s point about Obama. Why wouldn’t a weekly magazine provide space for a variety of views. And certainly Prof. Ferguson is considered not only an authority on economics but also on the British Empire. His book and TV series was certainly more balanced than Simon Schama’s grimmoire.

Tina Brown reminds me of that editor you ran into in trade book publishing who always seemed to get a job but you weren’t quite sure what he or she did to get it. Who says bs walks… Newsweek imitated the internet only too well — trivializing everything but style and celebrity.

Bret Lythgoe
October 25th, 2012 | 9:30 am

In my opinion, NEWSWEEK has been going downhill for years, but it reached a new low after Tina Brown took it over: it turned into a mixture of one part hard news, two parts PEOPLE magazine type content. (I have similar fears concerning THE NEW REPUBLIC, but so far,my fears have been slightly assuaged; TNR has an excellent book review section). I’m sure Tina Brown has her good points, but I’ve been very disappointed with what she did to NEWSWEEK; enought to cancel my subscription. (Just in time, too, considering its imminent demise, in the tree version).