Via Jay Rosen, here’s New York Press writer Matt Taibbi laying waste to Newsweek and the newsmagazine genre:

It was humorous to see how quickly Newsweek lost its cachet with
Middle America. So long as it went about its usual revolting Neanderthal literary mission — wrapping
4000 words of inane speculations about the historical Jesus around breathless updates on the value
of Martha Stewart stock (Pie Chart, p. 37!), and startling new insights about “the real George Washington” — no
one had any problem with Newsweek.

An ethical magazine is one that uses up its news pages asking questions
like Can smiling prevent cancer? and makes sure at least twice each calendar year to do a
“What the fuck is wrong with our ungrateful, disobedient children?” story, so that angry suburban
parents have something to read in the doctor’s office while they wait to have their bunions shaved.
That — plus the occasional feature on Shrek 2 as the crowning achievement of the human
creative impulse, and the odd investigation into why cell phones in restaurants are so darn annoying — is
what good journalism is all about.