Newsweek Magazine

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 11:37pm on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Devin Gordon is the new editor of the Newsweek web site, replacing Will Tacy. Gordon was previously editor of the Scope section of Newsweek magazine.

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 4:55pm on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Plumbing the very depths of desperation, Newsweek magazine will use Stephen Colbert as a guest editor. The New York Observer reported on June 2, 2009:

"For the next issue that hits newsstands on June 8, Comedy Central funnyman Stephen Colbert will be Newsweek’s guest editor, The Observer has learned.

Mr. Meacham said the idea was born from a lunch he had with Mr. Colbert at Gabriel’s near Columbus Circle.

“I was just very impressed with the range of his knowledge and he had an almost encyclopedic feel for anything that came up,” said Mr. Meacham. “As we think about ways to both inform and surprise readers of the magazine, the notion of having him as a guest editor seemed like a good one.”

It’s the first guest editor for Newsweek in its 76-year history."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 6:53pm on Friday, May 22nd, 2009

The remake of Newsweek magazine is a bust, Michael Kinsley writes in the May 21, 2009 issue of The New Republic:

"Having recently been dumped by Time, I naturally had great hopes for this week's much-anticipated makeover of Newsweek. Both surviving newsmags (US News is said to exist still in some form, but no one I know has seen it lately) are in an Internet panic like that affecting newspapers. Newsweek has always been a bit faster on its feet. But judging from its first issue, the new Newsweek is not going to be the instrument of my revenge, alas.

In his editor's letter--one of many traditional newsmagazine features that have survived the scythe of change--Jon Meacham says, "We are not pretending to be your guide through the chaos of the Information Age," which concedes a lot of ground from the get-go. Why not at least pretend? Why else would people pick it up, let alone subscribe? The newsmags face a choice. Actually, they've faced it since long before the Internet. Should they try to provide a complete picture of what happened last week? Or should they stop worrying about that and hope to find appeal in trends, service pieces, fine writing, muckraking exposes, provocative argument, and other traditional non-news magazine fare? Whenever they have an existential crisis--and this is not the first--they always make the wrong choice."

The full story:
www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=7cc5324e-0fbc-4316-a656-d49e77e3a5a4&p=1

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 3:51pm on Friday, April 24th, 2009

Jon Meacham, the editor of Newsweek magazine, will write a biography of former President George H.W. Bush, the New York Post reported on April 24, 2009:

"Jon Meacham, whose day job is running Newsweek, has already picked his next project.

He will write a biography of former President George H.W. Bush, Media Ink has learned.

Meacham was with the Bushes in Houston, along with Cherie Blair, wife of ex-British prime minister Tony Blair, and others celebrating the 20th anniversary of Barbara Bush's Celebration of Reading initiative, which seeks to stamp out illiteracy.

The book is not an authorized biography, but the Bush family is believed to be cooperating.

Meacham's bestselling Andrew Jackson tome, "American Lion," won the Pulitzer for biography on Monday, but Meacham won't necessarily reap a big payday from the accolade. Instead, he'll get another mid-six-figure advance. The new book fulfills the second part of a two-book deal he signed with Random House several years ago."