Slate Sincerely Flattered
Time magazine, we
notice, seems to have started a new feature called "Dear Dr. Notebook," which
poses and answers questions that arise from the current news. We can't help
sensing a family resemblance to
Slate
's months-old "Explainer" column,
which ... well, poses and answers questions that arise from the current news.
There are differences, of course. Time , as a serious newsmagazine, deals
with issues such as: Why are there Clinton masks for Halloween but no Monica
masks? Or: How do you clean a mirror-studded leather dress like the one Prada
showed in Milan?
Slate
, by contrast, as a frivolous,
attitude-besotted Webzine, asks (and answers): How does the Kosovo situation
compare with the one in Bosnia? Or: What's the difference among all these
journalists named Broder?
Turning
the page in Time , we came across another newish feature called "News
Quiz"--not to be confused with a
Slate
feature of the same name
started several months earlier. There is nothing proprietary about the name
"News Quiz," of course--and we would not insult the author of
Slate
's "News Quiz" by suggesting that there is any similarity
between Time 's News Quiz and the one Randy Cohen produces for us. But it
is remarkable that Time should have gone almost 75 years without a news
quiz, only to start one shortly after
Slate
did.
Brooding about all this, we flung away Time with
irritation and picked up Newsweek . The No. 2 newsmagazine, we noticed,
also has a new front-of-the-book feature, euphoniously titled "The
Buzz-O-Meter." The gimmick seems to be that you take an issue in the news and
list the various "buzzes" on it--"buzz" No. 2 perhaps contradicting "buzz" No.
1 in some ironic or amusing way, "buzz" Nos. 3 and 4 peeling additional layers
off the onion of perception, and so on. Could this, we wondered, possibly be an
hommage to the strangely similar technique invented by William Saletan
for
Slate
's "The Week/The Spin"? Was there a lavish banquet
ceremony of thanksgiving and celebration of Will's achievements to which we
misplaced our invitation?
We
consulted Microsoft's new president, Steve Ballmer, on what, if anything, we
should do about all this. He replied, with simple eloquence, "Have them
killed." But he quickly added, "Unless, of course, that would in any way
violate the antitrust laws."
My Name
Is Michael, and I'm a 'Scapoholic
Speaking
of the antitrust laws, readers who have been enjoying Michael Lewis'
"Dispatches" from the courtroom where government lawyers are attempting the
most brazen legal challenge to human progress since the Scopes Trial should be
aware of the following: Mr. Lewis' views do not necessarily reflect those of
Slate
magazine, its editors, or its advertisers. Especially its
editors'. In fact, we were sitting around the other day trying to recall whose
stupid idea it was to hire Michael Lewis, a known Netscape user--sometimes
four, five, six, or more times a day; the man clearly belongs in Netscape
Anonymous--to cover an event as complex and vital to civilization's future as
the Microsoft trial. Oddly enough, no
Slate
editor could recall
making this tawdry assignment. Nor does anyone recall telling Mr. Lewis that he
was free to express his views whatever they may be, no matter how fatuous or
uninformed by the slightest understanding of the free enterprise system, and
without considering for a moment that
Slate
is owned by Microsoft
and that some of its staff members have young children and very little talent
that would make us employable at a less saintlike, public-spirited, and
compassionate company. No one admits to having said to him, "Let the microchips
fall where they may." In fact, no one can recall ever exchanging a word with
Mr. Lewis before his absurd reports began appearing on our site. He must have
just hacked his way in.
E-Mail
Bonding
Slate
's two new
every-weekday e-mail deliveries are up and running and available as another
free service to
Slate
subscribers. "
Slate Afternoon
Delivery " includes some of the day's updates of
Slate
news
and business departments such as "Moneybox" and "Frame Game," along with
Slate
's daily (unlike some rival news quizzes we could
name) News Quiz. "
Slate Evening Delivery " is a selection from
Slate
's cultural reviews and reportage. Each item in both of
these new deliveries is personally selected for you by
Slate
Deputy Editor Jack Shafer, plucked at its very peak of ripeness, and e-mailed
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don't care to mention.)
Click here to sign up
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--Michael Kinsley
