Jon Meacham of Newsweek uses his latest editor?s column to discuss the decline of his publication, a ?catcher in the rye standing between democracy and the abyss of ignorance and despair.?
Hyperbole aside, Meacham demonstrates at least some understanding of the cause of Newsweek?s voyage down the drain:
If the economic climate were different, if there were a consistently healthy national (and international) advertising market of corporations seeking to reach a large number of readers, then we would be in a very different place: one of profitability. NEWSWEEK is a business?an odd one, to be sure, and one with a significant sense of itself as a public trust?but it is still a business.
What might have contributed to the economic decline that ended up hurting Newsweek?s ability to make a profit? Could it have been harmful, counterproductive, big-government policies ? the kind of policies Newsweek writers like Meacham trumpet repeatedly?