Monday, September 04, 2006

Don't you like stories about American "news"magainzes when they plan to become more "serious" and more "analytical"? "Mr. Stengel’s plan is to fill the pages of Time with more essays and news analysis, give the magazine a sharper point of view and draw more brand-name journalists into the fold. If this sounds familiar, it may be that Mr. Stengel wants Time to be little more like its chief rival, Newsweek, which already has a star roster of essayists like George Will, Anna Quindlen and Fareed Zakaria. So far, Mr. Stengel has drawn attention to the magazine by hiring Ana Marie Cox, a writer known less for her journalistic chops than for her previous job writing heavily opinionated posts on the gossip blog Wonkette. He has also highlighted articles that are largely reported essays, like the cover story about the Middle East in the July 31 issue, “The Way Out,” by Michael Elliott. “It’s about having an idea that is different,” Mr. Stengel said. “I want to have people talk about what we’re writing about.”"