Media -- Rambling -- May 27, 2023

Locator: 44767MEDIA. 

Part of this is a re-posting

Accuracy and tone in the media.

Link here.

Near the bottom of that short article is an interactive graph. 

To read the graph:

• the higher on the graph: the more "factual" based on the site's criteria;
• the farther right on the graph, less biased; farther left, more opinionated.

Example: look where the Atlantic stands.

The Atlantic is fairly "high," suggesting "factual" articles, but look how far to the left it is: very, very opinionated (note: both "Far Right" and "Far Left" offerings can be anywhere on the chart above -- opinionated means "opinionated," and the Far Right does not have a monopoly on that).

A category the survey writers did not address: content. I define content:

• relevant
• timely
• good writing
• good formatting, to include font, style, presentation, graphics,
• stable of recognizable and good writers
• audience the publication targets

By "content" criteria, I find the Atlantic at / near the top of the list of those periodicals that I read on a regular basis.

My top three, print:

• daily: The WSJ
• weekly:
• bi-weekly: The New Yorker (it almost seems like a weekly to me)
• monthly: the Atlantic
  

My top three, on-line:

• daily: the Atlantic news letter (daily; four great links, almost guaranteed)
• weekly: Barron's, but on-line articles appear daily
  
• monthly: N/A
  
• accidental/intermittent: Axios

Science: 

• I subscribed to this monthly for the first time ever this past year. I will let the subscription lapse; it doesn't add much to justify re-subscribing. 
• it definitely fails the "content" test."
• I detest any science publication that suggest man-made global warming is a fact, but still call "evolution" and/or "gravity" a theory

Texas Monthly:

• hard copy: way, way too many ads
• font: way, way too small

The New Yorker: 

• sometimes, it seems, the only reason I maintain my subscription, to have access to its archives.
• the editor probably "saved" the magazine by adding a world-class crossword puzzle
  

Playboy: 

• no longer a player, but during my college years -- it would have been #1 in the "content" category. Again, by content:
• relevant
• timely
• good writing
• good formatting, to include font, style, presentation, graphics,
• stable of recognizable and good writers
• the audience the publication targets

• I am watching an Amazon original on the Hugh Hefner story. I probably watch about 20 minutes of the series every week or so. It will take me forever to get through the series. 
• I am absolutely convinced a "Hugh Hefner" in 2023 could make this brand the #1 monthly in the US again. 
• Much would have to be changed, including making it "family friendly." I'm not kidding. I'm very serious here. 
• The name of the monthly might have to change -- but I would advocate leaving the name alone, but if one had to change the name, simply drop "boy." 

Maybe more on this later. One of my favorite topics. 

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Covid Vaccine

This article is what led me to rambling above. I had wanted to write the above for a long time but never had a reason. With this Atlantic article I had a reason. 

Link here. I assume it's behind a paywall, but I don't know.

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The Atlantic Archives

As an example: the following are just some of the Bakken articles covered by I Atlantic: