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JON FRIEDMAN'S MEDIA WEB |
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Newsweek aims to crack Bush 'riddle'Commentary: Plus, Slate's suitors, New Yorker's surprise |
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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Forget, for a moment, about terrorism, Iraq and even the media's misguided obsession over whether President Bush's supporters can conspire to reduce John Kerry to a Purple Heart-winning weenie.
At Newsweek, the editors have one overriding objective as they prepare to cover the upcoming Republican convention in New York and the balance of Bush's re-election campaign.
They intend to "crack the riddle that is George Bush," said Tom Watson, the editor of Newsweek's nation department.
(Oh. Is that all? Well, lots of luck, gang.)
Actually, if any media organization could decode the President's psyche, it might be Newsweek. Watson, his fellow Washington bureau chief, Daniel Klaidman, and their cohorts have a flair for synthesizing the daily news and creating big-picture stories, beyond what ordinarily passes for newspaper and cable television headlines.
Watson and Klaidman explained the strategy in a free-wheeling, hour-long interview last week at Newsweek's Midtown Manhattan headquarters.
At the convention, Newsweek's mantra will be, break news.
"There IS news at a convention," Klaidman said, scoffing at the notion that this event will represent a coronation, scripted to death for television. "It's silly to say it will lack suspense and drama," he said. "My message is, `Go out and break news.'"
Newsweek's editors wouldn't come right out and say so, but, clearly, they live to get exclusives that a certain newsweekly across town -- okay, it's Time -- doesn't have in its latest issue.
"We're dejected in the (Washington) bureau when we don't have anything special," Klaidman conceded. He added: "We don't define a big story by whether the New York Times picks up our story."
Oh, really? I still bet the publicity sure helps.
GOP stars
Watson and Klaidman suggested that some of the most compelling figures at the convention won't necessarily be Topic A -- New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, for instance.
"His job is to keep the city safe, but don't let the protestors run too far," Watson said (At least 250,000 people are expected to hold demonstrations during the convention).
"It will be a trial by fire for Kelly, as the shark -- al-Qaida -- swims underneath," Watson added.
And what about New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg?
"Bloomberg has to keep the protestors peaceful -- and keep the cash registers ringing," Watson said.
Mr. Multimedia
If one reporter personified what a journalist in the communications age is all about, it may be Newsweek's well known Howard Fineman.
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"At the convention, I've become almost a parody of multiplatform-providing," Fineman joked by phone.
He said he'll write an overview after the convention, based on what he has gleaned from attending "breakfasts, lunches and coffee klatches with key Republican strategists and politicians."
He'll also be a guest on Newsweek's editorial partner, MSNBC, specifically its "Hardball" program as well as filing to the MSNBC.com Web page "from my Blackberry," he said.
Fineman calls his work "total immersion reporting -- and yakking."
For the record, all is well between Fineman and the "Hardball" host, Chris Matthews. Fineman inadvertently created a media industry storm when he disparaged Matthews on the "Imus in the Morning" radio program a few weeks ago.
"Everything is fine," Fineman said. "Chris and I are fine. `Hardball' is a great, great show."
A MSNBC representative told me Fineman would, indeed, be appearing on "Hardball" soon.
Make or break
When I asked Klaidman and Watson to pinpoint one area that will make or break the candidates, they instantly cited Stark County in Ohio, home of Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Stark has invariably exhibited an uncanny knack for supporting winning candidates. This year, Ohio's vote is anybody's guess.
"It's a place where the residents have the felt job losses," Watson said.
Short of an old-fashioned "October surprise" -- such as the U.S. capturing Osama bin Laden -- Watson and Klaidman are salivating over the eventual debate between Vice President Dick Cheney and Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, because of the contrasts in their ages, political philosophies and speaking styles.
Grinning, Watson said, "It's going to be one of the best shows of the campaign."
Slate's fate
The prize is Slate, the admired but under-utilized online magazine, currently a teeny-tiny part of the Microsoft empire.
Two of the combatants are expected to be the New York Times Co. (NYT: news, chart, profile) and the Washington Post Co. (WPO: news, chart, profile).
The Times has a big advantage since roughly 300 percent of its cultural-news staff has already worked for Slate. The Times has its own respected Web site, which Slate would enhance.
But the Times' culture would have to adjust to Slate's two hallmarks, in-your-face edginess and enough irreverence to fill the Gobi desert.
Meanwhile, the Post has a big advantage, too: Post board member Warren Buffett is so close to Microsoft visionary Bill Gates that they have vacationed together. They know all the super-billionaires' secret handshakes. Who knows? Slate could fit well as a part of Newsweek, a unit of the Post.
A betting man would be wise to make the Post a slight favorite.
The New Yorker's surprise
The New Yorker magazine recently boasted a line-up of predictably weighty and topical stories, such as "Grand Old City," about its hometown; ethnic cleansing in Sudan and a modernist novel about contemporary Turkey.
Some people have been shouting and murmuring about another New Yorker story: a profile of "Mike and the Mad Dog."
Who?
They are Mike Francesa and Christopher Russo, two highly opinionated talk-radio staples on the New York sports scene. Some fans swear by them, others at them.
This piece follows a New Yorker profile a few weeks ago about the ageless insult comic Don Rickles.
New Yorker spokeswoman Perri Dorset points out that the New Yorker is "a mix of profiles, reportage, fiction and cartoons."
That said, the magazine is attempting what Sotheby's did when it started auctioning such items as rock and roll memorabilia. It's trying hard to broaden its appeal to the widest possible audience - which makes business sense.
Still, we can only hope that these unexpected topics in the august New Yorker -- yes, the New Yorker -- do not foreshadow the end of western civilization, as we know it.
MEDIA WEB QUESTION: WILL OHIO GO FOR BUSH OR KERRY?
STORY OF THE WEEK: This time, it's actually a classic headline. From the Onion: "Homosexual Tearfully Admits to Being Governor of New Jersey," a wickedly clever commentary on the Gov. Jim McGreevey mess.
Please send your comments to JFriedman@MarketWatch.com.
Jon Friedman is media editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com in New York.