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Liptonius commented on Betrayed by the Zeitgeist she once channeled, Tina Brown invokes it one last time

In high school in the early 70's, Newsweek and Time were the "go-to" sources for those of us in debate classes and extracurricular debate teams. Teachers felt that the reporting was good, accurate and a logical and inexpensive source. By the late 70's to the mid-80's print 'news' magazines were woefully behind the curve as cable just cleaned up the floor with them. No longer timely, the need for 'opinion' and 'slant' drove my perception of them as a slightly out-of-touch Uncle, muttering about the Truman administration or something. By the 90's, the constant haranguing, proselytizing, and ridiculous posturing became simply unbearable. I wouldn't even pick one up in a waiting room. Their time came and went, and even the bastard offspring like The Beast wallow and moan, unable to capture the loyalty and, more importantly, the revenue stream of past periodicals. Incapable or unwilling to understand that those models are gone forever, and frantically becoming more outrageous and pointless to the reading public. A reasonably educated adult needs facts. Not opinion. I cannot help but wonder if Newsweek might have survived with that as a guiding principle.

Posted on December 23rd, 2012 5:18pm