This is a tale of two magazines.
One of them has more than 100 colorful pages of ads packed into each
issue. Brand names evoke the very good life just out of reach: Saks and
Victoria's Secret, Gucci and Mercedes-Benz, Armani and Cartier.
The articles are equally cool in this new magazine named Talk, which had
its splashy premiere a couple of months ago -- making headlines with a
Hillary Clinton interview that discussed the First Husband's childhood
hurts and adult philandering. Now, Talk is settling into its lofty routine
as trendsetter extraordinaire.
Tina Brown, the editor in chief, describes Talk as "a new, upscale monthly
magazine that provides depth, passion and context to the issues that obsess
us." She adds: "Talk tells the story of who we are. Talk reveals us,
obscures us, positions us."
Talk about blather! As a joint venture of the entertainment giant Miramax
(a subsidiary of Walt Disney) and the Hearst Corporation, the magazine is
powered by massive resources. But to what end?
The first issues of Talk are sleek and breezy, focusing on the rich and
famous. The mood is vicarious, the intellectual pretenses glossy.
Last year, when Tina Brown left her job as top editor of The New Yorker to
begin work on Talk , former Newsweek correspondent Robert Parry was already
running I.F. Magazine on a shoestring far smaller than Brown's martini budget.
To launch Talk , the Disney and Hearst conglomerates simply dipped into
their deep pockets. To launch I.F., Parry cashed in his retirement account
from Newsweek and borrowed against his house. He was determined to engage
in journalism outside the limits holding sway in Washington.
A couple of months ago, when I.F. Magazine seemed on the verge of
collapse, Parry did not redouble outreach to corporate advertisers. (I.F.
doesn't have any.) Instead, he sent a fund-raising appeal to readers,
explaining that without a quick influx of $10,000 the magazine would have
to fold.
"I was touched by how many of our subscribers helped us out in the
emergency fund drive," he recalled the other day. "We did raise the
$10,000, although that only covers our overdue printing bills. Still, it
does say that a number of people really want the material that we're
providing. They sure aren't subscribing because we do a lot of hyped-up
advertising -- or have half-naked starlets on the cover."
Indeed, I.F.'s covers tend toward the stark. Grays and reds present a
somewhat lurid visual tone -- which is appropriate, given the subject matter.
As editor of the magazine, Parry is concerned with recent history and its
current implications. In print -- and online at www.consortiumnews.com --
the magazine is devoted to educating, not selling. Crucial information can
be found, Parry insists. But we have to be willing to look for it, no
matter where it takes us.
"Truth is fundamental to a healthy democracy, and ... the rules of common
decency must be applied to all human endeavors," an I.F. editorial said a
few months ago. "There are some acts that are simply wrong no matter who
does them and why."
In that spirit, the latest issue of I.F. probes under the usual varnish of
American journalism. For instance, a longtime war correspondent examines
the actions of the Kosovo Liberation Army and concludes: "As a consequence
of NATO's military intervention, Kosovo appears to have traded the
brutality of Serb paramilitary thugs for the brutality of like-minded
Albanians."
An article titled "Our Man in Morocco" notes that after the death of King
Hassan II last July, "U.S. government eulogies and press retrospectives
hailed the late monarch for his long service as a reliable client of
Western diplomacy, with little note of his autocratic, corrupt and bloody
rule." Other pieces expose nefarious operations involving U.S. and Israeli
intelligence agencies.
You're not likely to find I.F. for sale on magazine racks. Nor are chain
bookstores displaying Parry's superb new book "Lost History," which sheds
intense light on how the U.S. government got away with backing murderous
Central American military forces -- sometimes involved in drug trafficking
-- during the 1980s. (The magazine and book are available at 1-800-738-1812.)
While working with Robert Parry to co-write a few articles, I've been
greatly impressed by his intrepid energy for exhuming facts. Eager to
follow wherever they lead, he produces high-quality independent journalism
that is a far cry from the go-along-to-get-along variety flourishing in
elite media.
To look at I.F. and Talk magazines, side by side, is to see the contrast
between the vital and the flashy.
Norman Solomon's latest book is The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News.
