The Week

The cover of the week has 2 sub headings; the one above the title reads “all you need to know about everything that matters.” The other reads “the best of the U.S. and international media.” The Week is a weekly news publication. Formatted much like typical daily news paper, it has a news and opinion section, a business section, arts, consumer and of course, space for the weeks top stories.
However, The Week distinguishes itself from other news publication in a variety of ways. Inline with the bold statements of the cover and according to their website (www.theweekdaily.com), The Week claims to compile the “most intriguing stories and the most thoughtful commentary—left, right, and everything in between.” The publication’s commitment to “covering the entire political waterfront” is just one of the core elements of The Week that makes it stand out from other news publication.
Rather than having a large writing staff, The Week employs a staff of editors who “scour hundreds of newspapers, magazines, and Web sites (U.S. and foreign)” The goal is to assemble each week’s best articles into one compact publication. As such, The Week draws upon many sources; that each issue must dedicate a quarter to a half of a page in order to cite each source.
The average issue of The Week is 44 pages long. The goal of the publisher is to create a publication that people will read cover to cover (a point that is highlighted on the ‘advertise in The Week’ section of their web page) and do so in 90 minutes.
The Week claims to have a “common-sense style” and “easy-access blurbs and insets to accompany the in-depth pieces.” The Week believes that “nothing gets more ink than it warrants; no story is too small.” While the only way to describe their target audience is as educated and news savvy, The Week understands the need to keep it interesting. That is why 50% of the publication focuses on reporting the ‘news-big’ issues while the other 50% focuses on arts, leisure and business, though they admit that things often overlap.
But it is the overlap that make the week so interesting for me. The Week attempts to (and in my opinion succeeds) paint a complete picture of the news. As a reader you read about many issues that affect a common outcome. The Week puts all the information out there, but leaves it to the reader to connect the dots. To see how business and technology and politics all affect one another is the real genius of The Week.
In addition to articles, The Week also provides a fair amount of interesting, fun and relevant tid-bits of information. Graph, charts, funny and interesting news stories, celebrity gossip and polls fill the borders of the publication. These quick facts often lead the reader to larger and relevant article.
The Week also provides music, movie, stage and television reviews. There are also consumer product reviews and a real estate section that’s complies the ‘best properties on the market’ from around the U.S.
Advertising in The Week is kept to a minimum. Only 6 full page ads are allowed in the publication each week. The ads tend to be for HBO television shows, oil companies spouting their ‘green image’ and a lot of advertising for airlines.
The Week has a modest, simple but effective online presence. The Week’s website has many of their top and in-depth stories available to any user, but much of their content is restricted to subscribers. There is a form for feedback to staff, but no conversational forum.
The Week is owned by British entrepreneur Felix Dennis. Dennis’ media holdings include The Week, Auto Express, Stuff, Computer Shopper, Blender and Evo, Dennis Publishing is also the owner of Maxim. In addition to a lifelong involvement in media, Dennis is a renowned poet, writer and philanthropist, as well as holding the title of 65th most wealthy Brit.
For any one who tries to keep up with the happenings of the world, The Week is a must read. If you pick up any random issue and read one page, you will learn something about the news; if you read the whole thing you will understand the news. The Week is for the serious student of news and the casual reader. If can be left on the coffee table to entertain guests or cited in an essay. The Week is a versatile and intelligent news publication.
Basicaly everyone should read the week!