Summaries of what's in Time, Newsweek, etc.

All Al

By Julia TurnerUpdated Friday, Feb. 7, 2003, at 11:48 AM ET

New Republic, Feb. 17
In a week when the media have been busy analyzing heat-dissipating tiles and toting up Security Council votes, the cover piece on Al Sharpton seems to rise from the blue. Of course, maybe the magazine is just way ahead of the curve. The story contends that in the post-Clinton era, white Democrats—including Sharpton's fellow presidential candidates—have given black politicians little support and black constituents little to vote for. Since Kerry and Co. will likely have trouble attracting black voters in '04, the race may come to hinge on the very unpredictable Al. … Peter Beinart's accompanying editorial thunders that Dems should "disown" the reverend first: "Sharpton wants legitimacy; the other candidates grant him legitimacy so he can't accuse them of racism." But in making his candidacy its primary story in a crowded news week, the magazine lends Sharpton a certain legitimacy as well.

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Economist, Feb. 6
Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations had its convincing moments, a story argues, but produced no smoking firearms of any kind; the speech contained "a mosaic of circumstantial material, rather than an Adlai Stevenson-like blaze of proof. First responses suggested Mr. Powell had not instantly changed any minds." … Another piece disparages Britain's continental neighbors and takes pleasure in watching what Donald Rumsfeld might call the new Europe asserting itself. "Last week's decision by eight European countries to sign a letter of solidarity with the United States was a calculated snub to the Franco-German couple in its claim to speak for Europe."

New York Times Magazine New York Times Magazine, Feb. 9
What's it like to raise a terrorist? The cover story profiles the family of "the 20^th hijacker," Zacarias Moussaoui. His brother responded to Moussaoui's arrest with a tell-all book; his mother with a campaign in his defense. … A piece on spam reads like spam. A cover line promises the story will explain "Why Spam Can't Be Stopped." Instead, it quotes at length the irritating e-mails we've all received, notes that spam filters often fail (but never explains why), and devotes only a few paragraphs to anti-spam legislation pending in Congress and whether it could work. … The magazine also proudly introduces "Domains," a feature in which we get to look at a famous person's stuff. First up? Chef Daniel Boulud, who lathers up with Frédéric Fekkai's shampoo, keeps caviar in the fridge, and doesn't count hot dogs as junk food. It reads a bit like InStyle, although, as far as we know, Boulud has no movie to promote.

The New Yorker, Feb. 10
A piece uses interviews with George Tenet, Donald Rumsfeld, and other members of the intelligence-ia to show how the CIA and the Pentagon have rethought their analysis of intelligence since Sept. 11. The keys? More creativity and better assessment of unknowns now that the equation of risk has changed. Even when proof is scarce, says former CIA Director Robert Gates, the threat of another major attack is so great that "you have to be prepared to go forward with a lot lower level of confidence in the evidence you have." Such attitudes may now inform the analysis of evidence linking Iraq to al-Qaida. … Nicholas Lemann says the two-volume Reporting Civil Rights: American Journalism 1941-1973 is notable because it depicts the struggle as the mess it was, rather than the clean moral victory it seems in hindsight. … Also, James Surowiecki explains why the United States should no longer fear OPEC and "the oil weapon."

Weekly Standard, Feb. 10
The coverline hails Dubya as "The Liberator: Baghdad … and Beyond." … A story inside argues that the United States has failed in the Middle East because it has been too weak on "violently anti-American regimes." A history of mollycoddling dictators (in Egypt, Iraq, and Iran), finessing terrorists (during the Tehran hostage crisis), failing to retaliate for bombings (of American embassies and the USS Cole), and, of all things, allowing countries to nationalize their oil supplies has led Osama and Co. to mark the United States as an easy target. The piece does not explore how pursuing an opposite policy might affect anti-Americanism in the region. … The Standard's take on Ken Pollack's The Threatening Storm: "His frustration with an administration [Clinton's] that did not see the gravity of the Iraq question—or, worse, saw it but refused to act—permeates the book." … Also, a detailed rundown of Tom Daschle's political doublespeak on Iraq.

U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 10
The cover touts America's new "Warrior Class" and promises an "exclusive with U.S. Special Forces in the global war on terror." Sure enough, a U.S. News reporter spent a month in Colombia with two dozen Green Berets training local troops to fight the various terrorist groups who rule the countryside. How do these groups fit in with the global war on terror? "Donald Rumsfeld worries that the world's 'ungoverned areas' can become sanctuaries for terrorists," the piece notes, and that's all the explanation we get. The story does give a detailed account of life as a Green Beret, which seems rife both with swagger and fear, "friendlies and unfriendlies." But a handy sidebar notes that clandestine special forces troops have recently been deployed in 35 countries; it's interesting to know what it's like to be a Green Beret, but it might be even more interesting to ask why the United States is sending them all over the planet.

Time and Newsweek Time and Newsweek, Feb. 10
Both newsweeklies rolled back their deadlines and put the Columbia disaster on their covers; Time ran a photo of the shuttle exploding in the sky and the headline "'The Columbia Is Lost,'" while Newsweek chose "Not Again," and included a photo of the seven astronauts who died. Inside, the coverage retreads familiar ground, with timelines of the shuttle's re-entry, reflections on America's naive complacency about the safety of shuttle flights, and records of the Columbia's last radio transmission … Each mag runs a few unique pieces: Newsweek includes a brief biography of each astronaut (the style is reminiscent of the New York Times' post-9/11 Portraits of Grief), and a first-person piece by John Glenn, describing what it feels like inside a landing shuttle. … In Time, Gregg Easterbrook says "The shuttle must be stopped"; he argues that its design is 30 years old, the "heat-dissipating tiles were designed before breakthroughs in materials science," and that the many private contractors who profit from the antiquated shuttle program would prefer not to see a more streamlined, cost-effective replacement. Newsweek also has a story speculating on the future of the shuttle program; it covers the bases and lacks Easterbrook's vitriol.

The rest of the news takes a backseat this week. Newsweek analyzes Bush's State of the Union and his attempt to bring domestic plans to the forefront, even as he tackles conflict in Iraq. The stunning conclusion? It'll only work if the war goes well. … Time analyzes the state of women in Hollywood and declares that the success of dreck like Sweet Home Alabama is actually good news: "It's important, and cheering, that even bad movies about women can attract a sizable audience."

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