Economist , Jan. 10
(posted
Saturday, Jan. 10)
Another
cover editorial about the Asia crisis. This one disapproves of the
International Monetary Fund's bailout. The recession it's supposed to prevent
might never have happened, and rescuing financiers who make mistakes encourages
them to make the same errors again. A 16-page package on tourism notes that it
accounts for 10 percent of the world economy ($3.6 trillion per year). Big
dilemma: how to prevent desirable vacation spots from being ruined. (Iraq's new
tourism slogan: "From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein, 2,400 years of peace
and prosperity.") A story describes the latest Web-encryption device: digital
watermarking. Subtle number patterns within digitized pictures and music let
their owners bust bootleggers. Also, an article praises the ongoing Lunar
Prospector mission. It's quick (22 months to develop) and cheap (only $63
million). The directive: Find water in the moon's polar craters.
New
Republic , Jan. 26
(posted
Friday, Jan. 9)
More
Microsoft bashing. The cover story repeats the shopworn criticism that
Microsoft is evil because its second-rate software crushes better programs. An
article worries that Ted Turner's $1-billion donation will let him dictate U.N.
policy. For instance, Turner's donation might fund projects to fight world
hunger with buffalo meat (Turner owns 10 percent of all bison in the United
States). Also, an essay bucks the trend by trashing Los Angeles' new Getty
Museum: The art collection lacks any show-stoppers, and Richard Meier's
entrance façade resembles "a prefab grain silo with lots of cutouts."
Vanity Fair , February 1998
(posted
Friday, Jan. 9)
A profile
argues that Al Gore secretly hates politics. His family bred him to be
president, and he does his duty as a good son, but he'd rather be doing almost
anything else. The piece reaffirms the cliché that Gore is a warm, funny guy
behind his wooden exterior. An essay wishes the New York Times would
ditch its new sections. "Dining In," "Fine Arts," etc., help advertisers more
than readers, and make the paper unwieldy to read. Also, Vanity Fair
dubs Brown University "Jet-Set Ivy." Super-rich, super-hip students (called
"Euros," even when not European) drive Ferraris, wear Chanel, and hit Paris for
weekends. Brown attracts the children of the rich and famous (Diana Ross, Kate
Capshaw, Lamar Alexander, Itzhak Perlman), and its grads dominate the music and
Web-publishing industries.
New
York Times Magazine , Jan. 11
(posted
Thursday, Jan. 8)
The cover
story deplores local television news shows' obsession with titillation and
ratings. Local news panders to viewers by showing crime and disaster footage,
ignoring education and politics. Responsible conclusion: Local news should try
to balance shocking video with serious stories. A conversation between Ralph
Reed and George Stephanopoulos finds them agreeing that scandals don't hurt
candidates, and partisanship annoys voters. Reed says he models himself after
Martin Luther King Jr., while Stephanopoulos ridicules Al Gore for praising the
sitcom character Ellen. ("It's not a moral issue, it's just stupid.") Also, a
story asserts that the San Francisco 49ers' Steve Young is the best quarterback
ever, statistically speaking. Young owns four of the 19 best-ever seasons for a
quarterback, and is the highest-rated passer of all time. But 49ers fans will
always love Joe Montana more.
Time and Newsweek , Jan. 12
(posted
Tuesday, Jan. 6)
Time 's Jerry Seinfeld
cover mourns the passing of Seinfeld . Inside are an exclusive interview with Seinfeld (he says he's not
interested in money), a history of the show (it claims the 1992-93 season is the
best), and a piece on NBC's now shaky future ( Seinfeld 's
departure may end NBC's Thursday-night dominance). Conflict-of-interest watch:
Seinfeld is a Time/Warner product. Newsweek counters by
interviewing Larry David, Seinfeld 's co-creator and "dark genius."
Newsweek, which did a cover story on Michael Kennedy and his siblings
only six months ago, puts him on the cover again. The package offers thumbnail
profiles of all RFK's children, as well as a schematic explaining ski football.
Essays in both Newsweek and Time argue that Kennedy was a good man who will be
unfairly remembered for sleeping with his kids' baby sitter.
Time tracks the comeback of American Express. Hurt in the early
'90s by no-fee credit-card competitors, Amex is back on the rise. Why? Better
customer perks (like discounts and air miles), advertising geared toward
younger consumers (including commercials featuring Jerry Seinfeld), and
corporate downsizing.
Newsweek wonders if VW's reintroduction of the Beetle will work. The new
car is cute, but fans of the old Beetle hate the new front-mounted engine and
high price (around $19,000). VW hopes nostalgia and slick marketing will sell
the car.
U.S.
News & World Report , Jan. 12
(posted
Tuesday, Jan. 6)
The cover
package is an ode to fat. Included: a claim that fat's OK for your body
as long as you exercise; interviews with a chef and a nutritionist (both
cautiously pro-fat); and a rundown of fatty cuisine in other cultures,
including pâté de foie gras, crispy duck, and Ukrainian salted pork fat. Yum.
(See
Slate
's "Dialogue" on fat.) A story explains the publishing industry's new survival techniques.
Huge advances are history, and better technology lets publishers ship books
faster and track sales more closely. Also, U.S. News finds a vacation hotbed: Cuba. Fidel Castro has successfully boosted
tourism to raise funds for his ailing country. While Americans can't legally
go, the rest of the world flocks to Cuba's beaches, nightclubs, and
prostitutes.
The
New Yorker , Jan. 12
(posted
Tuesday, Jan. 6)
A writer
chronicles his own long bout with depression, a period when he couldn't eat and
was afraid to stand up or shower. Medication, especially the anxiety-reliever
Xanax, is much praised. Surprising fact: Psychosurgery is still performed on
the desperately ill. "Cingulotomies" destroy centimeter-wide patches of brain
tissue. The requisite Microsoft piece describes the economic theory behind the
antitrust case. The market sometimes locks in an inferior high-tech product
(e.g., MS-DOS) because the network advantages of using the inferior product
(more available software) outweigh its technological disadvantages. This
creates a monopoly. The theory, propounded by an economist named Brian Arthur,
annoys classical economists because it denies the principle that the best
product always wins. A story recounts the strange rivalry between top figure
skaters Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski. The basic issue: Pre-adolescent
skaters, who have the highest strength-to-size ratio, are the best jumpers.
Breasts and hips hinder performance. The 17-year-old Kwan, who's been through
puberty, is struggling in a way her 14-year-old rival isn't.
Mother Jones , January 1998
(posted
Tuesday, Dec. 30)
The
magazine's cover
package takes on Microsoft. Bill Gates "pulls strings" in Washington and other
world capitals, "cheats" by coercing software pirates into signing deals with
the company, and "lies" about his business intentions, the magazine says. One
article doubts that the government or any competitor can curb Microsoft,
another alleges that the company intends to compile dossiers on all PC users,
and a third reports on how the ad firm of Wieden & Kennedy transformed
Microsoft's image from nerdy to cool. An article calls for cleaving 25 new
states out of the nation's most populous states to restore representative
democracy to the U.S. Senate.
--Seth
Stevenson
