Seth Ackerman
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Doug Henwood [SMTP:dhenwood at panix.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 1998 3:16 PM
> To: LBO-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Mother Jones
>
> Jeffrey Klein is leaving as editor of Mother Jones. Salon tells the
> story
> at <http://www.salonmagazine.com/media/1998/08/24media.html>.
> Apparently
> his turn to the right was not well received by the board. To Salon's
> correspondent, Ashley Craddock (an ex-MJ writer), this raises fears of
> a
> return to - gasp! - political correctness! This in a magazine whose
> new
> issue - the premiere of a redesign/relaunch - features stories about
> evil
> tobacco and drinking by women.
>
> I love the way these things are framed. Moving to the right is
> perceived as
> bold and fresh. Being radical is so moldy! Here's the concluding
> paragraph,
> featuring a quote from The Nation's David Corn:
>
> <quote>In spite of Klein's successes, the magazine will likely
> continue to
> struggle with its identity, says Cobbs: "Where do we go from here?
> What
> do we talk about? Do we sit around and be a bunch of naysayers who
> romanticize the '60s and a past that never was, or do we move
> forward?"
> Fears that Klein's decision to leave indicates a victory for the
> backward-looking forces of political correctness have several editors
> contemplating a job search. Corn, a veteran of leftist reporting, is
> quick to sympathize. "If [Klein's departure] means a turn toward
> straight-laced identity politics and predictability, it's a bad sign,"
> he says. "Magazines aren't political parties, and they're not
> movements.
> They're just magazines. They should be a smorgasbord of opinions, not
> have a pre-set code that has to be abided."</quote>
>
> Doug
>