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TNR vs. the Economist

By Jodi Kantor, Eve Gerber and David Plotz
Updated Saturday, May 29, 1999, at 3:34 AM ET

Click here for Slate's complete Kosovo coverage.

{{New#29511}} New Republic, June 14

The {{cover story#2:http://www.tnr.com/magazines/tnr/current/coverstory061499.html}} digs at the Economist and its American popularity. The tart, witty magazine does little original reporting, and its celebrated analysis has been "remarkably wrong" about American politics and the world economy, two subjects about which the magazine claims expertise. It's so bad partly because it has no competition to goad it to improve. ... The "{{TRB#2:http://www.tnr.com/magazines/tnr/current/trb061499.html}}" column bemoans the gun-control bill passed by the Senate last week. The gun laws are great, but the bill's draconian juvenile justice provisions will make it much easier to try 14-year-olds (and even 10-year-olds) as adults. ... A piece suggests that the long-awaited productivity increase from computers has finally arrived, in the form of streamlined inventories, flexible manufacturing, and fewer middlemen. The result of this productivity growth for the whole economy: no Social Security crisis, higher real wages, and a stock market that really can keep booming.

{{Economist#29512}} Economist, May 29

Does this week's Economist display the faults identified by the New Republic (see above item)? You decide. The {{cover editorial#2:http://www.economist.com/l.cgi?f=/editorial/AC/29-5-99/index_ld6244.html}} knocks the Cox report. China remains decades behind in nuclear development, and no weapons based on stolen secrets have been deployed. It is unclear how much China learned by spying on America: The Chinese develop their own weapons and steal from many nations. ... An {{article#2:http://www.economist.com/l.cgi?f=/editorial/AC/29-5-99/index_eu2516.html}} argues that NATO unified itself by accelerating the introduction of peacekeepers to the Balkans. Dovish members are comforted that NATO is sending a peacekeeping force instead of invading, while hawks are satisfied by the promise of more troops on Yugoslavia's borders.

{{NYT#29422}}New York Times Magazine, May 30

A glowing profile of the first lady celebrates her emergence as a politician in her own right. The piece weighs Hillary Clinton's talents against her husband's: He has the "superior mind" and quicker political instincts, she is more focused and thoughtful of those around her. During her Senate campaign, her handlers may try to turn her disastrous stewardship of health-care reform into an asset; she screwed up "because she cared so much about uninsured Americans." ... Nadine Gordimer pens a hopeful tribute to the new South Africa. Blacks and whites are tentatively building a collective national identity. ... Revolting photographs of diseased lungs illustrate a piece about the revival of lung removal among tuberculosis patients. After abandoning the practice decades ago in favor of drug treatment, physicians are again removing single, corroded lungs from advanced TB patients who have developed immunity to drug therapy.

{{gq99-05-25#29349}}GQ, June 1999

The comedy-themed issue lists the "seventy-five funniest jokes of all time." The winner is Garry Shandling's: "I went to my doctor and told him, 'My penis is burning.' He said, 'That means somebody is talking about it.' " No. 32, courtesy of Woody Allen: "My ex-wife claimed she was violated. Knowing my ex-wife, it wasn't a moving violation." ... An essay slams gross-out humor. Earlier slapstick comedians--from Laurel and Hardy to Steve Martin--brought insight and graceful nuance to their characters, but Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler only exhibit unadulterated dumbness. ... A writer tours the "new chitlin' circuit," the profitable, segregated, raucous, and profane black comedy circuit. Ignored by mainstream (well, white) audiences, entertainers such as Jamie Foxx and Bernie Mac are winning enormous laughs, audiences, and profits by playing to all-black crowds.

{{texas#29321}}Texas Monthly, June 1999

An issue devoted to {{favorite son George W. Bush#2:http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/1999/jun/index.html}} finds no flaws in the presidential frontrunner. His earthy nature is attributed to his West Texas upbringing, which overcame his years of schooling at Andover and Yale. Lots of familiar biography in the package (e.g., an encounter with Billy Graham inspired Bush to start reading the Bible and quit drinking; he was the "Nancy Reagan" of his father's administration, firing chief of staff John Sununu). Personal details: He likes running and computer golf, hates meetings and briefings, and prefers to set principles and let others handle the details.

{{time#29252}}Newsweek and Time, May 31

Newsweek's {{cover story#2:http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/st/sc0122_1.htm}} on the future of technology forecasts a post-PC world where household appliances are connected to the Internet and each other. Your sprinkler will check with the weather service before it waters the lawn, your refrigerator will order more milk when your carton expires, and your toilet will test your emissions and notify your health-care provider when you're out of sorts. ... Bill Gates, by contrast, envisions a {{PC-plus future#2:http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/st/sc0422_1.htm}}, where the PC will remain the primary computing tool but will be integrated with other smart devices.

Time's {{cover package#2:http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/articles/0,3266,25407,00.html}} on troubled teens includes a poll showing that 20 percent of teens were evacuated from their schools because of post-Columbine bomb threats. A piece argues that smaller schools might be an antidote to the gargantuan high schools where adolescents anonymously drift into deep trouble and despair.

Newsweek {{reveals#2:http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/in/in0922_1.htm}} that President Clinton has approved a CIA plan to destabilize Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic: Kosovar rebels will be trained to commit acts of sabotage such as cutting telephone wires, ruining gas reserves, and launching cyberattacks against secret bank accounts where Milosevic has stowed millions of dollars, presumably pilfered from his people.

Time says that evangelical youth gained a martyr when the Columbine shooters killed Cassie Bernall as she affirmed her faith in God. Post-Littleton, campus Christians are more organized and energized about their evangelizing.

{{Left#29278}} {{usnews#29253}}U.S. News & World Report, May 31

The {{cover story#2:http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990531/31sold.htm}} recounts the story of a black World War II hero later refused re-enlistment by the Army because of trumped-up charges of Communist activity. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor two years ago, but his family still awaits an apology. ... A piece {{describes#2:http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990531/iowa.htm}} the fervent campaigning for this summer's Iowa straw poll. Underdog Republican presidential candidates are seizing it as their chance for a breakthrough. Frontrunner Gov. George W. Bush faces a dilemma: If he participates, he risks losing to the social conservatives who dominate GOP straw polls; if he skips the poll, Iowans may spurn him in February's all-important caucuses. ... Parents are abandoning the PTA in droves for groups that are more local and hard-hitting, says a {{report#2:http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990531/pta.htm}}. The PTA's reformist mandate--it pioneered libraries, hot lunches, and kindergartens--has degenerated into mere boosterism.

{{new#29255}}The New Yorker, May 31

The magazine gleefully anticipates a Senate race between Hillary Clinton and Rudolph Giuliani: "It feels like a government subsidy for wayward journalists." ... In a piece about Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish film director attributes both his psychologically probing cinematic style and his tumultuous love life to his emotionally frigid parents. ... An article defends Chai Ling, who led the Tiananmen Square protests and now runs an American Internet startup, from charges of selling out and, more gravely, of guiding the protests with naive extremism.

{{Win#27804}} {{weekly#29256}}Weekly Standard, May 31

The cover package forecasts Al Gore's electoral strategy. One piece says the veep is likely to take credit for wiring schools and libraries to the Internet--even though this wiring is subsidized by a "universal service charge" on everyone's phone bill. Another article admits that Tipper Gore is a political asset but warns darkly of her agenda. She appears to be an apolitical soccer mom, but she's actually a liberal do-gooder and her advocacy of mental-health issues threatens to increase health-care costs for most Americans. ... The Standard rejects the line that Treasury Secretary-designate Larry Summers is a Robert Rubin clone. Unlike Rubin, Summers believes in lots of government intervention in the economy and does not trust Wall Street.

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Jodi Kantor is Slate's New York editor. Eve Gerber is a Slate editorial assistant. David Plotz is Slate's editor. He is the author of The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank. You can e-mail him at .
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