Time and Newsweek , Sept. 15
(posted
Saturday, Sept. 13)
Time devotes nearly
its entire issue to Princess Di. Newsweek sees that issue, and raises
with a second, separate, advertisement-free "Commemorative Issue." Joyce Carol
Oates and Martin Amis eulogize in Time . Newsweek 's regular issue
trumps with Nancy Reagan and Katharine Graham. Both magazines provide detailed
accounts of the night of the accident, the week of mourning, and the funeral;
and both conclude that the future of the monarchy hinges on Di's sons.
Newsweek calls for Prince Charles to step aside in favor of William. It
also advises Charles' paramour, Camilla Parker Bowles, to avoid publicity until
the Diana fuss subsides. Also, both mags do the required soul-searching about
the paparazzi , concluding that the public's appetite for celebrity
photos will overcome its revulsion for photographers' methods.
Newsweek 's Commemorative Issue also features essays and countless
pictures. Di friend Rosa Monckton chastises the media for their exploitation of
Di in a piece exploiting her own relationship with Di, complete with private
photos of the princess.
Mother
Teresa's death is shunted to the back of each regular issue. The obits are, not
surprisingly, reverential. Time 's is longer.
Economist , Sept. 13
(posted
Saturday, Sept. 13)
The cover
editorial and article on China's economic future recommend wholesale
privatization. Foreign investors cheer party boss Jiang Zemin's slow moves
toward capitalism, but China's looming bank crisis requires far more rapid
reform. A piece says that the ozone layer is healing thanks to CFC bans. But
there's cause for worry: Ozone depletion is no longer a trendy political cause,
and CFC smuggling is rampant in Russia. A story on AOL's purchase of CompuServe
observes that online services increasingly resemble television networks: Their
core business is information and entertainment, not modems and servers.
New
Republic , Sept. 29
(posted
Friday, Sept. 12)
New
editor Charles Lane replaces Michael Kelly, who was ousted last week. Editor in
Chief Martin Peretz writes that Lane "represents continuity with the best
traditions of this journal: political independence, intellectual seriousness,
good writing and decency toward those with whom one disagrees." Lane also
contributes a cover story about the Clinton administration's ineffectual Haiti
policy. The United States has failed to improve living conditions or uphold the
authority of President René Preval. De facto leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide has
proven nearly as authoritarian as former dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier. An
article argues that liberals should oppose the National Endowment for the Arts
on the grounds that art does not need federal subsidies. Also, why Princess Di
was like President Clinton: The public cared more about her empathy than about
her actions.
New
York
Times
Magazine , Sept. 14
(posted
Thursday, Sept. 11)
The cover
story examines the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process through the eyes
of Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Authority's secret police.
Israelis distrust him because he was in the PLO and his brother is a member of
Hamas, while Palestinians despise him for cooperating with their enemy, the
Israelis. An article refutes the accepted wisdom that Klaus Fuchs and David
Greenglass leaked the first atomic secrets to the Soviets. (Later, however,
they did turn over secrets to the other side.) A recently released Soviet
document implicates Theodore Hall, a physicist at Cambridge University. Hall is
unapologetic about his spying, but the lack of living witnesses makes
prosecution impossible.
U.S.
News & World Report , Sept. 15
(posted
Tuesday, Sept. 9)
U.S.
News , which missed Diana's death last week because of its early deadline,
makes up for it with a Diana cover package this week. "Who's to
Blame for Diana's Death?" spreads the guilt among the driver, the security
guard, Dodi Fayed, Diana, photographers, the rest of the royal family,
and the adoring public. An essay explains why young women identified with Diana. (Why? They
want to be princesses, too. They also know what it's like to fall in love with
a jerk.) Editor James Fallows returns briefly to his favorite role of media
critic. His conclusion: Journalists can't help hurting the people they cover,
but they should be less careless and cruel. The Mother Teresa article is adulatory. And a piece
describes how companies are increasingly snooping through employees' e-mail,
voice mail, and credit records. Employers say they need to protect themselves
against lawsuits and on-the-job misbehavior.
The
New Yorker , Sept. 15
(posted
Tuesday, Sept. 9)
The
celebrity-obsessed magazine publishes a special Diana issue, three days before
its regular publication date of Monday. The all-star edition features elegiac
pieces from Clive James, Simon Schama, Salman Rushdie, and
editor/Di-acquaintance Tina Brown (Brown also did TV commentary for NBC at the
funeral). James and Brown warmly remember their moments with the princess.
Rushdie offers a "semiotic" analysis of Di's life and death, suggesting that
Britain should abandon its fascination with monarchy. Schama traces the history
of women alienated by the crown: Anne Boleyn, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and
Princess Caroline of Brunswick (who?). A profile of novelist Don DeLillo is
pegged to his forthcoming novel, Underworld . William Trevor contributes
a short story.
Weekly Standard , Sept. 15
(posted
Tuesday, Sept. 9)
No Diana
news. The cover story both mocks and admires "latte towns," progressive,
wealthy, organic communities like Burlington, Vt., and Ithaca, N.Y. What's to
praise? The hippies who populate latte towns have finally embraced capitalism,
and they are using private enterprise to build livable, prosperous cities. An
accompanying article makes fun of several '60s do-gooders who've been arrested
in recent weeks for crimes of greed. The predictions of auto-safety experts
that fatalities would rise 30 percent if Congress lifted the 55-mile-per-hour
speed limit have not come true, a piece reports. Fatalities have not increased,
but the mainstream media have ignored this good news.
--Compiled by Seth Stevenson and the editors of Slate .
