Newsweek

Newsweek's crazy-eyes Michele Bachmann cover has been getting a lot of attention this week, especially from conservatives who are blasting the magazine for the unflattering image of the GOP frontrunner. (You've got to hand it to Newsweek editor Tina Brown. She knows how to stir up a controversy.)  Last night, liberal-leaning comedian Jon Stewart joined the Newsweek criticism, though not exactly for the same reasons that are making Republicans so upset.  "Newsweek, that's a s---y picture of Michele Bachmann," Stewart said.

Newsweek publishes a cover story by Niall Ferguson severely critical of President Obama. That is fine; there is ample ground to criticize the president from both the right and the left, and the First Amendment makes criticism of public officials a sacred right. The problem, as Paul Krugman painstakingly pointed out , is that Mr. Ferguson's article is open to repeated challenge on factual accuracy. Evidently Newsweek thought that anything written by a Harvard professor would be beyond reproach, and besides, the magazine dismantled its fact checking staff in 1996 . Instead, Newsweek spokesman Andrew Kirk told Politico, "We, like other news organisations today, rely on our writers to submit factually accurate material.

It would be nice if Baltimore County did in fact have some of the nation's best secondary schools. But the methodology used by the Newsweek survey supporting that finding is seriously flawed. The results, which should be taken with a grain of salt, only serve to reinforce the system-wide satisfaction with a mediocre status quo. By basing its rankings of high schools on the number of Advanced Placement exams students take compared to the size of their graduating class, the Newsweek study completely ignores student performance.

Hereford High School continues to be recognized as one of the best schools in the United States in high school rankings compiled by three news organizations. The Washington Post ranked high schools based on academic program with an emphasis on participation in Advanced Placement tests. Hereford ranked 33rd in Maryland and 628 nationally. It was the fifth-highest ranked Baltimore County school among 14 that made the list. Newsweek magazine's list of America's best high schools highlighted 1,000 schools, including 23 in Maryland.

Pauline Kael, the legendary movie critic, retired from the New Yorker in 1991. This week she is interviewed in a special edition of Newsweek. Kael levels her gaze at some recent pictures and some current stars, deploying her characteristically trenchant prose:On Jim Carrey: "An inspired rough-and-tumble comedian." On Anne Heche: "She has a lovely, fragile Pierrette quality, and she's a fearless actress. But she's got an obstacle in her career. Because, realistically, it may be difficult for some people to accept certain kinds of knowledge about a performer's off-screen life."

Century High School in Sykesville was one of 23 Maryland high schools - and the only school in Carroll County - to earn a spot on Newsweek magazine's annual ranking of "America's Best High Schools" The listing, released this week, placed Century High as the No. 20 high school in Maryland, and ranked No. 854 in the country. The Newsweek survey ranked what it considers the "best" 1,000 public high schools in the nation. The list was based on six components provided by school administrators - graduation rate (25 percent)

Newsweek officially retracted yesterday a report that said U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had desecrated the Quran, which sparked rioting in Afghanistan and Pakistan that claimed at least 15 lives and drew denunciations from the Bush administration. After a weekend of half-measures in which the magazine apologized for the report without retracting it, Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker said in a brief statement late yesterday, "Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Quran abuse at Guantanamo Bay."

What do a mayor, a priest and an investment firm CEO have in common?Status, says Newsweek magazine. Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, Auxiliary Bishop John H. Ricard and Alex. Brown & Sons CEO Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard are in the vanguard of America's new cultural elite.They have money. They have influence. They have very high SAT scores and Ivy League diplomas. They have Republican wallets and Democratic consciences. They regard lacrosse as the king of sports. And they have mounds of arugula in their refrigerators.

NEW YORK -- Until today, none of Newsweek's reporting on the Clinton matter had appeared in Newsweek magazine.But no one would know that from the way the Clinton scandal has been covered over the past week. Although Newsweek decided at the last minute, on Saturday, Jan. 17, not to go with its scoop on the accusations that are now common knowledge, the magazine has since been cited by just about every news organization for its accounts about Monica Lewinsky, Linda R. Tripp and Vernon E. Jordan Jr. Newsweek has been credited for every reprint of tape transcripts, and staff members have appeared on several news programs.

NEW YORK - Netflix Inc., the largest mail-order video-rental service, and TiVo Inc. reportedly are negotiating a deal to start a service that would let customers download movies into TiVo's digital video recorders. TiVo won't offer a movie-download service for at least a year, spokeswoman Kathryn Kelly said in an interview, commenting on a report in Newsweek magazine. She and Netflix spokeswoman Lynn Brinton said the companies don't have a partnership or a schedule to establish one, but such an agreement might make sense in the future, they said.

Century High School in Sykesville was one of 23 Maryland high schools - and the only school in Carroll County - to earn a spot on Newsweek magazine's annual ranking of "America's Best High Schools" The listing, released this week, placed Century High as the No. 20 high school in Maryland, and ranked No. 854 in the country. The Newsweek survey ranked what it considers the "best" 1,000 public high schools in the nation. The list was based on six components provided by school administrators - graduation rate (25 percent)

Newsweek's crazy-eyes Michele Bachmann cover has been getting a lot of attention this week, especially from conservatives who are blasting the magazine for the unflattering image of the GOP frontrunner. (You've got to hand it to Newsweek editor Tina Brown. She knows how to stir up a controversy.)  Last night, liberal-leaning comedian Jon Stewart joined the Newsweek criticism, though not exactly for the same reasons that are making Republicans so upset.  "Newsweek, that's a s---y picture of Michele Bachmann," Stewart said.

Among Newsweek magazine's 500 "Best American High Schools" list, published in the magazine's June 19 issue, Carroll County —and specifically the Sykesville/Eldersburg area — is home to two schools that have made the list. Of the county's public schools, Liberty High School and Century High School were both ranked in the top 500. Liberty came in with a ranking of No. 303, while Century earned a ranking of No. 469. The magazine contacted more than 1,100 public high schools throughout the nation, according to a story on Newsweek's website.

It would be nice if Baltimore County did in fact have some of the nation's best secondary schools. But the methodology used by the Newsweek survey supporting that finding is seriously flawed. The results, which should be taken with a grain of salt, only serve to reinforce the system-wide satisfaction with a mediocre status quo. By basing its rankings of high schools on the number of Advanced Placement exams students take compared to the size of their graduating class, the Newsweek study completely ignores student performance.

Maryland public high schools offer the highest percentage of college-level courses in the nation, according to Newsweek magazine's June 15 analysis in its annual "America's Top High Schools" issue. In previous issues, Newsweek deemed states with big populations the top achievers. But since it accounted for each state's size, Maryland ranks first with 29.5 percent of schools offering college-level courses - more than 5 percentage points higher than the second-place state, Virginia.

After hiring his newspaper's first black journalist to hold a management position, an editor insisted that the pioneering move was not such a big deal, as I recall. Real progress comes not when you are able to hire a black editor, he said, but when you also are able to fire her. The danger of getting fired is a sign that you're accountable. It is evidence that you have been hired for your ability to help the company achieve its mission, not for your value as a token. Of course, such double standards are not fair.

WASHINGTON -- Amos Mansdorf has been on the professional tennis tour for 10 years, so he knows big points when he sees them.But yesterday, in the finals of the Newsweek Tennis Classic, the biggest point of all sneaked up on him.Todd Martin was serving to force a tiebreaker and Mansdorf was trying to prepare himself for the extended set.Then it was break point -- which was also match point -- and Martin was flinging a baseline forehand into the net."The...

In one of the final pages of "Primary Colors," Joe Klein's roman a clef about Bill Clinton, an aide named Libby Holden confronts the Clinton character after he has managed to weasel out of a paternity rap involving a teen-age girl."

WHO WOULD benefit [from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's run for the presidency]? "New York, for starters. Or, at least, the glittering constellation of news and entertainment companies, Wall Street firms, political consultants, civic boosters, paid gossips, columnists, pundits and publicists ... who feed ... the impression that unless something happens in New York, it doesn't happen." So says the New Yorker. Women's world Depressing but fascinating story in Newsweek about female stars.

Middle River man charged in stabbing A Middle River man has been charged with attempted first-degree murder in the stabbing of a Sun newspaper deliveryman, county police said yesterday. Robert Wesley Heier, 39, of the first block of Wilbur Road is accused of attacking William Shull, 64, of the 1500 block of Hopewell Ave., police said. Shull was stabbed about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday in an attempted robbery while he was delivering newspapers in the first block of Stemmers Run Road, police said.