The Blogging Journalist

Foreign Policy Magazine's New Home

I see the Washington Post Co. has bought Foreign Policy magazine from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington, D.C. based think tank. See "FP: now brought to you by the Washington Post Company."

According to Foreign Policy editor-in-chief Moisés Naím:

Foreign Policy is thrilled to join The Post Company. In an era in which too many newspapers and magazines are retreating from international news, The Washington Post Company is smartly bucking the trend. Serving the expanding market of readers eager to understand how events in other countries affect them is what FP is all about, and that is why we are so excited to have The Washington Post Company as our new home.

For years, I was a faithfully reader of the magazine, "founded in 1970 by "Clash of Civilizations" author Samuel P.   Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel, a German-born investment banker who once served as U.S. ambassador to Denmark. Now I read it online.

Is it a good investment for the Post Company? It is, according to a September 29, 2008, press release, in which Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company, says:

Foreign Policy is a terrific magazine, and I’m pleased it will become a part of our company. We are committed to great magazine journalism, and I hope Foreign Policy will also become one more center of innovation that helps us expand our journalism in the online arena.

Only time will tell if it can survive as a traditional magazine. I'm more incline to stay with the online version.

This post can also be found at The Diplomatic Times Review, my blog on "news and opinion about U.S. politics, foreign policy, diplomacy and international affairs"

Technorati Tags: Foreign Policy Magazine,Washington Post Co.

Guardian America

CHICAGO, USA -- I really like the Guardian of London's Guardian America, which launch October 23, 2007. It carries some of the news found in the regular Guardian but has more news about the U.S.

Thanks to BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis for the alert. Jeff is a Guardian consultant.

Technorati tags: Guardian Unlimited, Guardian America

A Few Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Job Descriptions

Rob Curley, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive's vice president for product development, revealed in an August 1, 2007, post: "I’m always surprised at how the questions and phone calls I get kind of come in waves of specific topics.

"The topic that it seems I’m getting asked the most about right now is “will I share our job descriptions?” he wrote. 

I think the request for the descriptions are a good indicator of what some news outlets may be looking for in the future. To read more, see "A few job descriptions for a newspaper’s new-media team." 

Technorati tags: Rob Curley, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, Job Descriptions for New Media Team

The Chicago Tribune's Redesigned Website

While browsing the Chicago Tribune's redesigned web site, I wondered how long before I would run into content that's behind a wall. It didn't take long. Although I've subscribed to the paper for about 13-years, I've always resisted subscribing to the online edition. I just can't bear to do it, and I don't exactly know why. It's probably because it is behind a wall

Meanwhile, the Tribune's redesign is very friendly in appearance and less institutional looking. There are lots of blogs, which I love reading. So far, I've been able to get to them from a drop down list. However, I got the wall when I clicked on "Latest from the blogs." Blogs don't belong behind a wall.

As for regular content, Sam Zell, the new owner of Tribune company, should tear down the walls separating content from readers. His March 2007 purchase of the company should be viewed as an opportunity to break down all obstacles between the online publication and potential readers.

Technorati tags: Chicago Tribune, Tribune Company, Sam Zell, Tribune Blogs