Click here for Slate’s complete Kosovo coverage.
New Republic, May 24
The cover story questions Sen. John McCain’s beatification by the press. His oft-recounted experiences in Vietnam and well-publicized stances for campaign finance reform and against tobacco make him seem noble, rugged, and enlightened. But the media have ignored his unsavory side, which includes skirt-chasing and fervent social conservatism (“he’s a thousand percent anti-gay,” says Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.). … A story gauges the intellectual heft of the presidential candidates’ platforms. Too-vague Bradley touts “lofty ideas but no proposals,” too-specific Gore hawks “a profusion of proposals that obscure his big goals,” and too-vague, too-unspecific Bush hasn’t shared “either goal or proposal.” … A piece says that the White House’s response to the China intelligence scandal epitomizes Clinton’s dangerous tendency “to substitute damage control for foreign policy.” The administration has brushed off the charges with the same deft techniques–the dodge, the denial, and the claim of irrelevancy–that characterized its handling of Flytrap.
Economist, May 8
The cover editorial, “A Bungled War,” asserts that NATO should scrap its initial goals of establishing autonomy and democracy in Kosovo, and settle for a Bosnia-style peacekeeping force. Milosevic is despicable, but his removal would further destabilize Yugoslavia. … A story diagnoses what ails the World Trade Organization: too much legalism, too little leadership, and the heavy new burden of monitoring trade issues (such as food regulation and environmental protection) that were once domestic concerns of individual countries. … The magazine lauds a recent crop of video games that emphasize strategy and good judgment over violent combat. Even though the games are populated by assassins and commandos, they are not excessively bloodthirsty; one even subtracts points for gratuitous kills.
New York Times Magazine, May 9
The cover story profiles prodigal mogul Mike Ovitz. After trying his hand at Disney, philanthropy, Broadway, and professional sports, he is returning to the pinnacle of the Hollywood hierarchy through his new Artists Management Group, which purports to give clients more control of their “product.” The piece retreads his feud with his former company, Creative Artists Agency. Ovitz is sure to make tons of money and infuriate his former colleagues, but there is no guarantee that this will satisfy his gargantuan appetite for power. … A piece trails Vice President Al Gore on his quest to raise $55 million by the 2000 convention. Gore has been tending his network of money men all his political life, but his focus on fund raising might overshadow his campaign message. (Evidence that this is already happening: articles like this one.)
Vanity Fair, June 1999
A profile asks if hedge fund manager and journalist Jim Cramer is a financial wizard or just an attention-happy blowhard. From a journalist: “He really knows what he’s talking about.” From an investment banker: He’s “a very, very good self-promoter” and “entertainment” only. … The magazine excerpts a new oral biography of the members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Eric Idle expresses relief that the all-male troupe had “no girls to sulk or feel left out,” while John Cleese admits that they almost called the show Bunn Wackett Buzzard Stubble and Boot. … The cover story lambastes journalists for pawing through Julia Robert’s personal life, but reveals her shoe size, bra size, and romantic history anyway.
The Nation, May 17
Katha Pollitt announces her resignation from the magazine’s masthead, though she will continue to write her column. She was chagrined at The Nation’s recent publication of a column by conservative education activist Ron Unz arguing that liberal education reform has been an unmitigated failure. (See a previous item for details). … The cover story asserts that Kenneth Starr’s indictment of Julie Hiatt Steele is based on unbelievable assertions by Kathleen Willey, who “choreographed” her allegations to make them more “marketable.” … A piece profiles new for-profit prisons specializing in geriatric felons and worries that they will cut services to bolster profits.
ARTnews, May 1999
Yet another best-of-century list: the 25 most influential artists. The magazine’s panel makes mostly predictable choices, including sculptor Constantin Brancusi, Surrealist Salvador Dalí, Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning, architect Le Corbusier, Neoplasticist Piet Mondrian, photographer Man Ray, Impressionist Claude Monet, and “probably the most influential” Henri Matisse. The unusual picks include Robert Smithson and Donald Judd. Surprising omissions: Mark Rothko and Alexander Calder.
Time and Newsweek, May 10
The newsweeklies’ cover packages pander to anxious parents. Newsweek shows them “the secret life of teens,” while Time tells them how to protect Web-surfing kids from online perils. Newsweek’s paranoid cover package (“it’s Lord of the Flies on a vast scale”) urges early childhood intervention for difficult toddlers and “zero tolerance for bullies.” Time’s cover instructs parents to check the ratings listed on video game boxes, block offensive content on their computers, and click the “history” button on their browser to see where their kids have been. A handy foldout “quality meter” rates games and Internet sites. (Any 12-year-old could predict the results: educational software gets a “wholesome”; sex and hate sites are “gruesome.”) … Tipper Gore beseechesTime readers to attend to youngsters’ mental health (“If we knew a child had a broken arm, we would take that child to an emergency room.”) …Time reports that lawyers are already cozying up to the parents of slain Columbine High students. Possible litigation targets: the killers’ parents and the local police. Parents of the children killed in West Paducah, Ky., have already filed suit against the producers of The Basketball Diaries, the film said to have inspired the rampage there.
U.S. News & World Report, May 10
An article asserts that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, supported by a network of student volunteers, is winning an Internet propaganda war. The volunteers argue politely in chat rooms, maintain a sophisticated Web site, and encourage activism by Serbian expats. In contrast, a Pentagon official says that American anti-Serb radio programming reaches “an area the size of my desk.”… A piece explains a new Republican plan to revamp Social Security, savvily designed to pre-empt criticism from both conservatives and liberals. The plan gives workers a 2 percent income-tax rebate to be invested in a stock market fund. At retirement, you choose a payout based on that fund’s performance or on a set of guaranteed benefits. … In the cover story, U.S. News becomes the latest publication to warn about the declining effectiveness of antibiotics. Some are prescribed so heavily that bacteria are growing resistant to them. Children, more susceptible to microbes than adults, are in the most danger.
The New Yorker, May 10
A piece describes how the dog genome is being combed for clues about human genetic diseases. Because dogs are deliberately inbred, genetic diseases are easier to isolate and track. One researcher–aided by a team of 27 sleepy Doberman pinschers–has already targeted the gene for narcolepsy. … An article profiles J.S.G. Boggs, an artist whose medium is counterfeited money. Boggs creates exquisite mockups of real bills and convinces his patrons to use them as real cash. He claims to have “spent” upward of $1 million in drawn money. He has been exonerated on counterfeiting charges in Britain, Australia, and the United States.
Weekly Standard, May 10
The cover story canonizes Littleton victim Cassie Bernall, the born-again Christian teen-ager killed after declaring her faith in God. Her death is called a divinely ordained act, intended to inspire others to spread the gospel. … A piece lauds Al Gore’s response to the Littleton shooting. He has become a “born-again Hollywood basher” and was the only presidential candidate to deliver a compelling moral response to the shooting. … An article reminds readers that the next president will likely fill three Supreme Court seats. … An editorial berates congressional Republicans for last week’s “deeply irresponsible” isolationist votes on Kosovo.
