In Time, We Coulda Had So Much More

I find it troubling that Time, NewsWeek and BusinessWeek have fired reporters covering international news and are reducing or closing their foreign bureaus.

...staff reductions at Time and Newsweek and the outright closure of BusinessWeek's international print edition will almost certainly reduce the amount of news and analysis of global affairs.

Time Inc. has cut a total of more than 100 senior staff members in recent weeks and the international layoffs have included cutting bureau chiefs for Beijing, Seoul, Jerusalem and Moscow, and it has announced there would be layoffs in the London newsroom.

Yet Jim Gaines, a former managing editor of Time magazine, said that staff cutbacks and reduced coverage do not necessarily mean fewer readers.

"Editorial quality can suffer from a cutback, but that does not necessarily mean you lose readers," Gaines said.

I suppose that's true. After all, I seriously doubt that editors are gonna come right-out and say, "Hey, kids! We're offering less international analysis." Folks will just go along, not knowing what they don't know. Kinda like this report out today: FBI Missed Internal Signs of Espionage. But Lord knows, we'll keep America safe and strong with warantless and illegal wiretaps!

I guess in time, Time will just keep slapping up more stories about...oh...I dunno...the impact of drunk skiing -- or maybe invest some of those dollars into producing quality titles like Yachting, Yachting Monthly or Yachting World. And, hey -- I got nothing against y'all yachters or skiers -- I'm just questioning their priorities. Wanna pick on somebody else - you can go review the whole list of titles that Time Inc. publishes here.

This kinda reminds me of all this hub-bub I've been hearing about the HDTV. Apparently, these new-fangled televisions will allow you to experience television in a "whole new way."

Is that kinda like the whole new way you experience shitting the first time you take too many laxatives?

Hmmm...it seems to me that shit is still shit -- whether it's highly defined or not.

And whether you're out on the poop deck, or taking a moment alone in your bathroom, coverage of shit hitting the fan overseas is gonna get a little bit harder to find -- at least from three major news magazines.

And with that - I am finished talking about boats and shit this week.

I don't know how to swim -- and I'm tired of wading.

Posted January 17, 2006 11:50 PM