Newsweek Death Spiral Watch

That four-year countdown until the death of the Washington Post unless it radically reforms itself? That applies to Newsweek as well.

Outsourced to Matthew Yglesias:

Matthew Yglesias: Perception and Reality: Michael Isikoff reports that the guy John McCain picked to run the GOP convention has done some lobbying for the military junta that rules Burma. Then there's this dissonant element of the analysis: "But some allies worry that Goodyear's selection could fuel perceptions that McCain—who has portrayed himself as a crusader against special interests—is surrounded by lobbyists." But it's not just a perception that McCain is surrounded by lobbyists, he's actually surrounded by lobbyists. This is a quantifiable reality of McCain's campaign -- it's chock full 'o lobbyists.

Comments

[John Emerson]

Yglesias is great when he whips out the simple but telling fact that way. The other guy's dead before he knows it.

[sfguy]

Suppose we were feeling generous and wanted to give Newsweek a break. Then we would say that what Isikoff really meant to write was "McCain's inner circle consists mostly of lobbyists and some allies fear [what he wrote]." After all, in politics it is the perception of the fact that is important, not the fact itself [Cite George W. Bush Presidency].

[MaryCh]

I think the allies are just straight outta Bushville -- not worried about the fact, but about the perception. But still, since that's not how Isikoff reports it, Yglesias's point stands.