Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Newsweek Magazine Subscription
Newsweek is a popular weekly publication that features up to date articles on important current events, arts and entertainment, business, etc. It’s the second most popular news- related magazine in the United States, with circulation of approximately 3.2 million.
Contents of Newsweek:
Most people in the United States have picked up a copy of Newsweek at least once, so it’s a magazine that’s very familiar to everyone. The cover story of each issue of Newsweek is usually something that is intended to catch people’s attention and get them to read the magazine. The cover story is not always some huge, groundbreaking news story. If there is a very important event (like the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack), then it will almost always earn itself a place on the cover. But Newsweek also features special- interest covers, too, when the regular news is slow. I have seen Newsweek cover stories on diverse topics like arthritis, religion, personal finance, and many others.
Each issue of Newsweek contains about 60 to 80 pages of news information. The bulk of each issue is devoted to current events. These current event stories can be about U.S. government, international affairs, arts, technology, business, etc. Some of the regularly featured writers in Newsweek include Jane Bryant Quinn, Martha Brant, Evan Thomas, Jonathon Alter, Alan Zarembo, Fared Zakaria, and George Will. There’s also an occasional guest feature, by a well- known author plugging his/her latest book; a celebrity talking about a movie; or some other popular figure discussing an important event.
Monthly Features:
Each issue of Newsweek contains several “departments”. These are regular monthly features that you will find in each and every issue of Newsweek. They vary a little from month to month, but there are usually about 8 of them. Here’s a list of the typical featured departments:
This Week Online: You will find this department near the front of each issue. It’s a one- page section that contains listings of web events for the week; web exclusives; and questions and answers relating to significant internet topics.
Periscope: This department is usually a few pages in length and it includes short articles on news, politics, justice, fashion, and anything else that might be newsworthy for that particular week.
My Turn: This is a one- page article that features a personal story submitted by a Newsweek reader. These articles can cover virtually any personal issue that you can imagine. I have read “My Turn” articles on murder mysteries, little league baseball, playing chess, kitchen mishaps, and just about anything else your mind can conjure up.
Cyberscope: Like you might have guessed, this is a page that features links to some unusual and/or interesting web sites. You can also get some information on the latest and greatest electronic gadgets, printers, PC’s, scanners, etc.
Letters: Here you will find brief responses (usually a single paragraph or two) that have been submitted by Newsweek readers, regarding a Newsweek story from a previous issue. Newsweek organizes the letters by grouping them according to the common article that the readers have responded to.
Perspectives: This is a one- page feature that includes humor, quotes, and political cartoons. Newsweek doesn’t show any favor or disfavor to any one group. There are cartoons and quotes that bash conservatives and liberals alike, as well as quotes that are favorable to all groups.
Newsmakers: Newsweek places this one- page monthly feature near the very end of each issue. It’s usually full of brief celebrity articles with gossip tidbits.
The Last Word: This can be found at the end of each issue of Newsweek. George Will almost always writes this concluding article, but there have been other authors, on occasion, who have authored the close to each issue of Newsweek. You can expect to find some type of political issue discussed in “The Last Word”, based on Will’s (or whomever the featured writer is for that specific issue) own viewpoint.
Price of Newsweek:
Newsweek sells for a cover price of $3.95, which is steep for such a thin magazine. If you really enjoy reading Newsweek, then you should opt for a subscription, which will cut your per- issue cost down as low as 69 cents each.
Final Thoughts:
Newsweek is a fairly good news magazine. For those who choose their news magazine based on its political slant, Newsweek will probably satisfy the moderates. Unlike Time (which caters to the left- leaning individuals) and U.S. News and World Report (which caters to the right- leaning individuals), Newsweek straddles the middle, with articles from both liberal and conservative viewpoints.
One thing that bothers me about Newsweek is that the stories are usually a little too brief. I realize that Newsweek has to keep the stories short, in order to squeeze as many as possible into each issue. But I wish they were a little more in- depth. For example, some of George Will’s “The Last Word” articles cover some very complex issues. Yet, this item is only allowed a single page. Will only has time and space to scrape the surface of his featured topic. He usually does a commendable job in tackling a tough issue, but he really needs more space.
I subscribe to Newsweek, but I have found that I really don’t get as much out of it as I had hoped. When I get each issue, I open it up, read a few quotes from the “Perspectives” department, and then skim through the rest of the magazine for any other featured news article that sounds interesting. More often than not, I only find a few articles that are worth reading.
The main reason that I chose to subscribe to Newsweek is because of the dirt- cheap price that I was offered to subscribe. I get special “business subscription offers” from time to time, not just from Newsweek, but from other magazines, too. These special deals are intended for business owners, which I am not, but I keep getting the offers anyway. When I received the offer from Newsweek, it was a full- year’s subscription deal for only $22.00, or roughly 42 cents per issue. At a price that low, I figured I should go ahead and subscribe. Even if I only liked a few articles, it would still be worth 42 cents, I reasoned.
Newsweek is a decent magazine overall. It’s not one of my favorite magazines by any stretch of the imagination, and I could never justify paying the $3.95 cover price to read it. But it’s just as good, if not better than, the other well- known news magazines. For that reason, I give Newsweek a marginal thumbs- up.
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