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Newsweek and the Rise of the Zombie Magazine [1]
['Alex Shephard']
Date: 2020-08-18
These controversies hollowed out Newsweek’s staff and its brand. Its clickbait-heavy approach, aimed at gaming search engines, has declined since it was spun off from parent company IBT Media in 2018. But it remains a publication that privileges the interests of Google over those of its hypothetical readers. While other publications are abandoning the “scale” model pioneered by BuzzFeed and others in favor of building a loyal audience and raking in subscriptions, Newsweek is something of a throwback. It has attempted to rebuild some of its credibility post-IBT by partnering with the Poynter Institute, but it still has a distinctly seamy vibe. Earlier this month, the magazine’s cover story was a glowing profile of Jared Kushner of all people, which dropped right before a raft of more critical coverage, including the revelation that the president’s son-in-law had secretly met with potential spoiler candidate Kanye West.
Meanwhile, the opinion section is brimming with right-wing columnists, who range from the barely credible to the foaming at the mouth. Farage and Gingrich are regulars, as is Alan Dershowitz. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf took to Newsweek to attack the American Civil Liberties Union for standing up for peaceful protesters. Hammer, the op-ed editor, has a resume that is littered with stints in right-wing politics and advocacy organizations: He has worked for Ted Cruz, the Federalist Society, and the Claremont Institute as well as Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire. (Shapiro, last seen humiliating himself and his wife on Twitter, regularly contributed op-eds to Newsweek until February of last year.)
Amid a larger reckoning about the role of journalism in legitimizing anti-democratic ideas, Newsweek had largely stayed out of notice until Eastman’s op-ed. Newsweek claims that it is just asking questions, but its faux innocence is undercut by Hammer’s credentials and the ideological tilt of most of its contributors. Newsweek, the magazine you once read at the dentist, is like a batshit crazy version of the opinion section of The Wall Street Journal.
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[1] Url:
https://newrepublic.com/article/158968/newsweek-rise-zombie-magazine
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