Media

Newsweek and news-last-week

by Dan Kennedy

The next time the Boston Globe's Renée Graham wants to wax indignant over what's on the cover of Newsweek, she should pause, take a deep breath, and check the date.

In Wednesday's "Literary Life" column, a weekly round-up of what's new in magazines, Graham wrote: "Slobodan Milosevic is out in Yugoslavia, the Middle East is experiencing its worst violence in years, and who's on the cover of Newsweek? Dr. Dre and Eminem."

Actually, that was last week's Newsweek, which hit the newsstands on October 1 (and has the cover date October 9). Milosevic was still firmly in control, although the opposition was becoming increasingly outspoken over his bid to steal the election in Yugoslavia. And the violence that broke out after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount, on September 28, had not come anywhere near the crescendo that it reached the following week. Even so, both stories were covered heavily inside.

This week's Newsweek -- the one Graham was supposed to be writing about, and which has been available since October 8 (and has the cover date October 16) -- features a full-page cover image of victorious rebels in Yugoslavia, with a giant PEOPLE POWER emblazoned across. The off-lead, in the upper right: THE MIDEAST EXPLODES.

I've been as frustrated as anyone in recent years over Newsweek's shift from intelligent analysis of national and international news to less-than-knowing take-outs on pop culture. But really. Figuring out which issue is the current issue shouldn't take a lot of work.