• by John Gaffney , February 20, 2003

A Dose Of Sanity: The US News and World Report has devised a brilliant plan in case of war or debilitating homeland attack. According to the Media Industry Newsletter, management has a plan to effectively split the book in two, with front of book war coverage, and then a second table of contents to showcase and separate other features. Advertisers then get an option of how to position themselves. This is a clear advantage for print products as a media. It’s easy for a magazine or newspaper to separate content. In fact isolating content into special sections has served the print business for years. Now it has a new usage for the Age of Terrorism. Or maybe it’s the age of “unfiltered reality.” Maybe that’s a good name for the war and terrorist news section.

Take The Keyboard: The New York Times’ foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman is so good he makes me want to give up writing. He’s a one man reason for the existence of newspapers. He has an amazing skill for breaking down complex issues into practicalities and leaves the drama to Shakespeare. If you want a good example, dial back to his op-ed piece on Iraq in Wednesday’s edition.

Parting Shot: And if you need a current argument for the necessity and power of advertising, let’s look at the case of yet another Democratic presidential hopeful who announced his candidacy to the fanfare of one hand clapping. Has Dick Gephardt heard of maybe creating a buzz, or awareness building? He announced he’s running for president yesterday. And I bet he’d like a do-over already.