Pressroom : Release

News Release: Mayor Bloomberg Opens 2nd Annual Newsweek Global Leadership Conference

Pressroom — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:52:27 GMT

Contact: Jan Angilella FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

at 212-445-5638 Friday, April 4, 2008

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG TO OPEN SECOND ANNUAL NEWSWEEK GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

WITH KEYNOTE ADDRESS

----

PRE-LUNCHEON Q&A DISCUSSION WITH KEITH HENNESSEY, ASST. TO THE PRESIDENT FOR ECONOMIC POLICY AND DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL

----

CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON ENVIRONMENTAL DEBATE, POLITICS AND POLICY

New York—New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will open Newsweek’s Second Annual Global Environmental Leadership conference at Georgetown University on Tuesday, April 8.

There will be a pre-luncheon question-and-answer session with Keith Hennessey, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council. The day-long event is tied to a special report on Global Leadership and the Environment in the April 14 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, April 7).

“We are delighted to have Mayor Bloomberg and Keith Hennessey headlining our second annual conference on environmental leadership," said Newsweek's Chairman Richard M. Smith. “Along with an all-star list of other speakers, we are sure that they will inspire a lively discussion on a topic that is vitally important to all of us.”

After Mayor Bloomberg’s speech, the first panel discussion on “Profitability via Sustainability” will begin. Panelists are Gary Hirshberg, President and CEO of Stonyfield Farm; Ben Packard, Director of Environmental Affairs, interim Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Starbucks Corporation; Ann Thrupp, Ph.D., Manager of Sustainability and Organic Development, Fetzer Vineyards; and Adam Werbach, President and CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi. Newsweek Senior Editor Dan Gross will moderate.

The conference ends with an afternoon panel discussion “Politics, Advocacy and the Environment.” The panelists are Lee Brenner, Executive Producer, Political Programming, director of IMPACT (Public Affairs) MySpace; Scott P. Dickey, CEO, LIVE EARTH; Ira Magaziner, Chairman, Clinton Climate Initiative, William Jefferson Clinton Foundation; Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director, West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. and the Honorable R. James Woolsey, Venture Partner and Senior Adviser, VantagePoint Venture Partners and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Newsweek’s San Francisco Bureau Chief, Karen Breslau will moderate.

# # #

NEWSWEEK Cover Press Release: March 24, 2008 Issue

Pressroom — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:01:28 GMT

http://www.newsweek.com/id/123475

http://www.newsweek.com/id/123479

Contact: LaVenia LaVelle FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

at 212-445-4859 Sunday, March 16, 2008

COVER: "THE PETRAEUS GENERATION"

BEYOND THE SURGE: A NEW GENERATION OF OFFICERS STRUGGLES TO REMAKE THE U.S. ARMY

----

'YOU CAN'T KILL YOUR WAY OUT OF AN INSURGENCY,' GEN. DAVID

PETRAEUS TELLS NEWSWEEK

----

FIVE YEARS INTO THE WAR IN IRAQ, SOLDIERS are now as comfortable with handshakes as HAND GRENADES, BUT THEIR SUCCESS IS INHERENTLY FRAGILE

New York - Five years after the war in Iraq began Gen. David Petraeus has changed the way his officers think and the way the U.S. Army fights, Baghdad Bureau Chief Babak Dehghanpisheh and Editor-At-Large Evan Thomas report in the current issue of Newsweek.

"You can't kill your way out of an insurgency," General David Petraeus told Newsweek in an interview in his Baghdad headquarters. He has moved soldiers out of their secure megabases and into small outposts deep inside once alien and hostile neighborhoods, and he has ordered his men out of their armored convoys. "Walk ... Stop by, don't drive by," says Petraeus, reading from a "guidance" he is drafting for his soldiers, Newsweek reports in the March 24 issue "The Petraeus Generation" (on newsstands Monday, March 17). The objective is no longer to take a hill or storm a citadel, but to win over the people.

But this new way of war needs a new kind of warrior, Newsweek reports. Five years into the longest conflict the U.S. military has fought since Vietnam, young officers have been blooded by multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have learned, often on their own, operating with unprecedented independence, the intricacies of Muslim cultures. Brought up in rigid, flag-waving warrior cultures that taught right from wrong, black from white, they had to learn to operate amid moral ambiguity. Most recently, and hardest of all, they've had to reach out and ally themselves with men who have tried and often succeeded in killing their own soldiers. It is hard to overstate the achievement of this Petraeus Generation of officers, but their success, is terribly fragile. And while the skills these American officers have gained aren't critical in murky conflicts like Iraq, they are not universally valued or trusted within the Pentagon.

One of the Petraeus generation of officers, Captain Tim Wright is a doctor's son and was a Latin scholar with a 3.8 average in high school. Admitted to Princeton, he chose to go to West Point instead, drawn to the discipline of the U.S. Military Academy. But Wright is not the warrior he expected to be or that he was first trained to be. When he became a young infantry officer out of West Point in 2000, he entered an Army whose mission was to win wars by overwhelming force. This was the Army that blasted its way into Baghdad in less than three weeks in the spring of 2003, Newsweek reports. It's also the army that found itself bogged down in a bloody insurgency for the next four years. Wright, 30, was a captain in Baghdad last spring when the situation seemed bleakest. "That's the tough thing about this job," says Wright, blinking back tears. "If you f--- up, sometimes people die."

When Petraeus drafted his counterinsurgency doctrine in 2006, he was able to draw on the experiences of resourceful frontline officers like Wright. "All the stuff in the Petraeus manual, we had kind of figured it out there [in Afghanistan]," says Wright. "It was all the stuff we had seen work on the ground."

American officers learned very similar lessons in battling the Viet Cong. But much of that knowledge was simply lost. "It's said we fought that war nine times, a year at a time," says Petraeus, noting that because they had been drafted rather than volunteered, many combat-hardened troops left the Army as soon as their yearlong tours in Vietnam were up. By contrast, with the Army stretched thin and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dragging on, soldiers like Wright find themselves heading back into the fight for a second (or third or fourth) tour. "They have a level of experience that I don't think our Army has had at that rank certainly since Vietnam, and maybe not even then," says Petraeus.

Under his command, Petraeus says, "there is not only a tolerance for initiative and independent action, there is encouragement." Implicit within that, he says, is "the empowerment of commanders at local levels...to make deals." Even Captain Wright has helped bring peace to the violence-scarred Baghdad neighborhood of Bayaa-where distinguishing between "reconcilables and irreconcilables," as Petraeus puts it, wasn't easy-by allying himself with a Sadrist leader Wright refers to as "Mr. X."

Newsweek reports the drop in violence since Petraeus took command in Iraq is dramatic and irrefutable. But as he would be the first to admit, it's been won by cutting all these side deals, buying off former and potential fighters with temporary salaries and the promise of jobs in the Army and police. Already there are frictions. Many of our new allies still mistrust the Iraqi Army and police. Tensions are common, even open firefights. And within the US military, Petraeus has fought many battles with his bosses-including CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon, who resigned last week over getting the resources needed to make his counterinsurgency strategy work. As his heirs move up the ranks, they will face similar struggles in the future.

Also in the cover package: Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria looks at how real the "success" of the surge is; Evan Thomas and National Security Correspondent John Barry delve into the growing debate within the military over whether to prepare for big, conventional wars or what Rudyard Kipling called small, "savage wars of peace."

# # #

(Read entire cover package at www.Newsweek.com)

Newsweek Cover Press Release: "Hear Her Roar" - March 17 Issue

Pressroom — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:21:07 GMT

Contact: LaVenia LaVelle FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

at 212-445-4859 Sunday, March 9, 2008

COVER: “HEAR HER ROAR”

TINA BROWN SAYS CLINTON’s APPEAL TO BOOMER WOMEN IS ‘WIDER AND DEEPER’ THAN OLD GENDER WARS OF THE PAST

----

CLINTON TELLS NEWSWEEK: ‘It doesn’t look bleak at all,’ ON HER CHANCES OF WINNING THE NOMINATION DESPITE BEING BEHIND IN THE DELEGATE COUNT

----

A NEWSWEEK FORUM ON GENDER, CLASS AND HILLARY CLINTON

New York—“Much has been written about how boomer women have rallied to Hillary’s cause (she won an impressive 67 percent of the white women voting in Ohio; they were 44 percent of the total). It’s fashionable to write off this core element of her base as rabid paleofeminists fighting the tired old gender wars of the past. But Hillary’s appeal to the boomer gals is wider and deeper than that,” author Tina Brown writes in the current issue of Newsweek.

“It’s a revolt that has been overdue for a while and has now found its focus in Clinton’s candidacy,” writes Brown, who spent time on the road with the Clinton campaign. Her essay is part of the March 17 Newsweek cover, “Hear Her Roar” (on newsstands Monday, March 10), that includes Newsweek correspondents and others offering various thoughts on how gender and class are playing out in the campaign. It also includes an interview with Hillary Clinton days after her Texas and Ohio victories.

“All over the country there are vigorous, independent, self-liberated boomer women—women who possess all the management skills that come from raising families while holding down demanding jobs, women who have experience, enterprise and, among the empty nesters, a little financial independence, yet still find themselves steadfastly dissed and ignored,” Brown writes.

Brown even takes Oprah to task for abandoning boomer woman when she opted to endorse Obama. “Am I alone in suspecting that TV’s most powerful 54-year-old woman just might have endorsed him so fast for reasons of desirable viewer demographics as much as personal inspiration? Certainly, no TV diva in her 50s who values her ratings wants to be tied to the hot-flash cohort.”

“What saddens boomer women who love Hillary is that their twentysomething daughters don’t share their view of her heroic role. Instead they’ve been swept up by that new Barack magic. It’s not their fault, and not Hillary’s, either. The very scar tissue that older women see as proof of her determination just embarrasses their daughters, killing off for them all the insouciant elation that ought to come with girl power in the White House,” Brown writes.

“She might have a chance of winning them over yet, if she set about dividing the Obama girls from the Obama boys. Maybe start with some mother and daughter rallies in Pennsylvania, summoning an audience that would mirror the winning image of Chelsea onstage at her side on Tuesday night in Ohio,” writes Brown.

Also part of the cover package, Newsweek interviews Clinton days after her comeback victories about her relationship with women voters, her comeback strategy and her plans for winning the youth vote. “I won the youth vote in Massachusetts and in California. I did very well with it in Ohio. And I think it’s because more and more young people are starting to ask themselves, ‘Well, I’ve got this very personal feeling about Senator Obama, but I also want to be sure that I’m picking the person who would be the best president,’” Clinton tells Newsweek. “So there is a sense of a real dilemma about the choice, which I recognize, but … I feel like we’re really making progress,” she says.

On whether she can win the nomination when the math looks so bleak, Clinton says, “It doesn’t look bleak at all. I have a very close race with Senator Obama. There are elected delegates, caucus delegates and superdelegates, all for different reasons, and they’re all equal in their ability to cast their vote for whomever they choose ... This is a very carefully constructed process that goes back years, and we’re going to follow the process.”

In addition to Tina Brown, many other writers from Newsweek and beyond examine the complex feelings Clinton stirs in women as part of the March 17 cover package. They offer passionate views on the global view of women in leadership positions, whether the U.S. wants a woman president, the challenges Hillary faces in attracting younger women, the impact of the Clinton marriage and the pressure placed on black women to choose. Monica Crowley, a nationally syndicated radio host and panelist on “The McLaughlin Group,” offers advice from the conservative right.

And Newsweek reports that although Hillary Clinton is undeniably resilient, she is seemingly always recovering from her campaign’s self-inflicted wounds. In the latest Newsweek Poll, voters were asked, “Who would you most trust to answer the phone at 3 a.m.?” Forty-five percent answered John McCain, 27 percent said Hillary Clinton and 18 percent chose Barack Obama. Newsweek reports that it is impossible for voters to truly know how a presidential candidate will respond to a crisis in the Oval Office. But there are clues in Hillary Clinton’s background. She can certainly be tough-minded, and she has shown remarkable—and reliable—resiliency. The real wild card is her relationship with her sometimes domineering husband, who can offer good advice but be undisciplined.

Newsweek reports that the biggest crisis facing Hillary Clinton in recent times is her own campaign. Mixed and ever-changing messages and tactics have confused voters. The Obama campaign out-organized the Clinton campaign, especially in the caucus states. It seems that Clinton has been saved mostly by her own gutsiness, not by any particular flair for strategy or for running a large organization. “The major reason she won is her own true grit, resilience and ability as a candidate,” Patti Solis Doyle, who was ousted as campaign manager in mid-February, tells Newsweek.

# # #

(Read entire cover package at www.Newsweek.com)

March 10 Issue Cover Press Release: MR. RIGHT, R.I.P.

Pressroom — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:34:12 GMT

COVER: MR. RIGHT, R.I.P.

NEWSWEEK LOOKS AT WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR.’S CONSERVATISM AND

HOW IT’S FALLING APART TODAY

----

DAVID BROOKS ON BUCKLEY: ‘He changed the personality of conservatism.’

----

MICHAEL GERSON: ‘the loss to conservatism and to America is real… Buckley Jr. leaves an unfilled spot where wit and joy once stood.’

New York—In the current issue of Newsweek, Editor-at-Large Evan Thomas looks at how William F. Buckley Jr. largely inspired and held together the conservative movement that is collapsing today. “He changed the personality of conservatism,” New York Times columnist David Brooks tells Newsweek. “It had been sort of negative, and he made it smart and sophisticated and pushed out all these oddballs and created a movement.” More recently, says Brooks, conservatism has “lost something.” In the conservatism spawned by talk radio and TV, the haters and know-nothings are back, ranting about immigrants and liberals, Thomas writes in the March 10 Newsweek cover, "Mr. Right, R.I.P." (on newsstands Monday, March 3).

“It was a lot more philosophical under him,” Brooks says. “At those nightly salons, Buckley liked to talk and argue about ideas and literature and the nature of man; politics were rarely mentioned. The new conservatives are not as intellectually creative as those dealing with communism and socialism.” Brooks had been an editorial assistant at Buckley’s National Review.

Also in the cover package, Newsweek Contributor Michael Gerson writes an essay about what Buckley’s loss means to conservatism. With Buckley’s passing—as with the passing of Reagan—conservatism has one less grand, unifying figure. One less leader regarded with respect and affection by every element of a sprawling coalition, from libertarians to religious conservatives. Buckley united the movement because he embodied it, and he embodied it because he largely created it. Conservatism will survive Buckley’s passing, as an edifice survives the death of its architect. But few remain who understand how the building was built.”

And Katrina vanden Heuvel writes in an essay, “I come to Newsweek not to bury Buckley, but, believe it or not, to offer respect for the man and the editor. More important than any of the particular ideas in which Buckley believed was his belief in the power of ideas themselves.”

She writes that despite his “uncompromising conservative beliefs, Buckley reveled in transpartisan friendships, most notably with the late John Kenneth Galbraith. (One of Galbraith’s favorite phrases—“Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue”—may well have been coined to describe his skiing partner Buckley.) While he could deploy a sometimes vicious wit—which could descend into cruelty—Buckley disdained the kind of partisan shoutfests that too often pass for political debate on our TVs today.

# # #

(Read cover story at www. Newsweek.com)

NEWSWEEK Announces Three New Blogs For 'The Ruckus'

Pressroom — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:47:35 GMT

NEWSWEEK ANNOUNCES THREE NEW BLOGS FOR

‘THE RUCKUS,’ A NEW GROUP POLITICS BLOG

---

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE MEDIA BLOGGERS ASSOCIATION

(MBA), THE RUCKUS FEATURES GUEST BLOGGERS FROM THE

LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTER.

New York—Newsweek and the Media Bloggers Association (MBA) have invited three new blogs to join ‘The Ruckus,’ a group blog about politics published by Newsweek.com. Joining ‘The Ruckus’ are Brian Leubitz of Calitics.com, Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft.com and David Oatney of The World According to Oatney (http://oatneyworld.blogspot.com).

“The newest contributors to ‘The Ruckus’ represent key states in the 2008 presidential race—California, Colorado and Tennessee,” said Deidre Depke, editor of Newsweek.com. “As the campaign progresses, we’ll periodically introduce new blogs to reflect the changing political landscape.”

“The Media Bloggers Association is excited to team with Newsweek in bringing additional voices into the robust political dialog that has characterized ‘The Ruckus’ since its launch in late 2007,” said Robert Cox, president of MBA.

Launched in December 2007, ‘The Ruckus’ includes posts related to the 2008 campaign from nine MBA-member bloggers with a variety of political views and backgrounds, representing different parts of the country on a single page. The blog gives Newsweek.com readers a convenient sampling of some of the best political blogging from across the country and from key primary states.

“In the grand tradition of American political conversation, ‘The Ruckus’ offers a broad spectrum of political argument and analysis taking place in the blogosphere,” Depke said. “A healthy democracy requires debate and a lively conversation and we’re excited about publishing the opinions of our guest bloggers and the comments from their readers.”

‘The Ruckus’ (http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/default.aspx) joins Newsweek’s growing stable of blogs, including Stumper, a politics blog by Newsweek’s Andrew Romano (http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/default.aspx). Other participants in ‘The Ruckus’ include John Amato, crooksandliars.com; Faye Anderson, andersonatlarge.typepad.com; Joe Gandelman, themoderatevoice.com; James Joyner, outsidethebeltway.com; Ed Morrissey, captainsquartersblog.com; and Oliver Willis, oliverwillis.com.

To make way for the three new bloggers, participating blogs from early primary states are leaving ‘The Ruckus,’ including Dean Barker, bluehampshire.com; Adam Fogle, palmettoscoop.com; and Chris Woods, bleedingheartland.com. “These excellent blogs helped our readers gain invaluable insights into the political process in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and we are indebted to them for their efforts,” said Depke.

About Newsweek:

Founded in 1933, Newsweek provides comprehensive coverage of national and international affairs, business, culture, science and technology, and arts and entertainment. Headquartered in New York, Newsweek has 20 bureaus located in the U.S. and around the globe. In addition to its U.S. edition, Newsweek publishes three English-language editions overseas and is the only news magazine with six weekly local-language editions—in Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Polish, Arabic Chinese and Russian. Newsweek’s worldwide circulation is more than 3.5 million and a total readership of more than 21 million. The magazine appears in more than 190 countries. Newsweek holds more National Magazine Awards, given by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME), than any other newsweekly.

Newsweek.com, launched in Oct. 1998, offers daily news updates, Web-only columns from Newsweek’s top writers, photo galleries, audio and video reports from correspondents, podcasts, mobile content and archives as well as all content from the weekly print edition. The site has won more than 20 awards since 2002 and has been nominated twice for a National Magazine Award.

About the Media Bloggers Association:

The Media Bloggers Association (www.mediabloggers.org) is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting, protecting and educating its members; supporting the development of “blogging” or “citizen journalism” as a distinct form of media; and helping to extend the power of the press, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, to every citizen. The MBA has provided legal assistance to hundreds of bloggers since it was founded in 2004. The MBA has managed blogger credentialing for two presidential debates and a major federal trial (U.S. v. Libby).

# # #

Newsweek News Release: February 4, 2008 Cover: Road to Recession

Pressroom — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:22:53 GMT

http://www.newsweek.com/id/105558

Contact: Jan Angilella FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

at 212-445-5638 Sunday, January 27, 2008

COVER: ROAD TO RECESSION

NEWSWEEK LOOKS AT WHETHER A U.S. RECESSION WILL PULL THE REST

OF THE WORLD DOWN WITH IT

----

FAREED ZAKARIA ON THE U.S. AND GLOBAL ECONOMY CONNECTION NOW:

‘HOWEVER IT PLAYS OUT, ONE THING IS SURE: THE REST OF THE WORLD

WILL CUSHION AMERICA’S SLIDE’

----

ROBERT SAMUELSON ON THE FED AND WALL STREET: ‘THE PRESENT PANICKY CLIMATE RESULTS, AT LEAST PARTLY, FROM ALL THE INVECTIVE HEAPED ON THE FED’

New York-The Great Global Market Freak-Out of 2008 has everyone asking whether the U.S.-already on the road to recession-is entering into a protracted period of economic trouble where jobs will be slashed, prices will continue to rise and the dollar will keep falling; and if so, whether the declining U.S. economy will pull the rest of the world down with it, writes Senior Writer Daniel Gross in the current issue of Newsweek. A recession is defined as a widespread contraction in economic activity lasting more than a few months, and because of the lag in financial data, recessions typically aren't officially declared until long after they start. In short, the U.S. could already be in one. "Though world markets stabilized by late last week, buoyed by the Fed's rate-cut action and a proposed stimulus package of $150 billion that was hastily cobbled together by leaders in the House of Representatives and President Bush, the question remains: how ugly will it get, and when will it end?" Gross writes.

Gross examines those questions, along with Contributing Editor Robert J. Samuelson and Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria in the February 4 cover "Road to Recession," (on newsstands Monday, January 28). The disappointing jobs and retail-sales data from December indicate the economy has stalled. Given the complex financial machinery that now connects the world's market, will a U.S. recession quash the booming growth we've seen in emerging markets like India and China and tip European economies over the edge? "We are, of course, far short of a Great Depression now," said Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University's Stern School of Business. "But in terms of systemic risk and the risks of a financial meltdown, you almost have to go back that far to find a good analogy."

Gross looks at how a U.S. recession may affect the global economy, if at all. "On the one hand, the United States, the world's largest economy and the destination of many of the world's exports, may be on the brink of recession. But at the same time, the global economy-after a remarkable five-year period in which almost every major economy has been growing in concert-is showing signs of what economists call ‘decoupling.' What decoupling means is this: even as the globe's economic engine, the United States, has stalled, optimists believe the train cars it has been pulling for the last several decades-especially emerging markets like India and China-may finally be able to chug along under their own power."

Also in the cover package, Fareed Zakaria writes about that connection between the global economy and the U.S. economy and whether the current slowdown turns into a worldwide slump. "However it plays out, one thing is sure: the rest of the world will cushion America's slide. And that says a lot about the new global order. As the American economy slows down, there are no indications that other countries are tumbling. In particular, the fastest-growing big economies in the world-China, India, Brazil-appear set to continue with their robust growth. While a sharp American downturn will surely slow them down somewhat, those emerging markets will all continue to expand-to buy, sell and trade-and this will help the United States."

And Robert Samuelson writes on how the Fed has been listening to the criticisms and suggestions from Wall Street and making rate cuts based on that. "In recent months, the noisiest and nastiest criticism of the Fed has come from Wall Street. Hordes of money managers, analysts, commentators and economists have joined [CNBC's Jim] Cramer in ridiculing [Federal Reserve chairman Ben] Bernanke and other Fed officials. They're ‘clueless' and ‘behind the curve.' The blunt message: cut interest rates more and faster; revive the economy; boost stock prices; save our investments," Samuelson writes. "But these custodians of capital no longer speak only for small numbers of the superwealthy. From 1980 to 2005, the share of U.S. households owning stocks or mutual funds went from less than 19 percent to 50 percent; the number of brokerage accounts rose from 10 million to 109 million."

Samuelson continues that market sentiment-what sends prices up or down-is heavily shaped by the financial populists operating through the business cable channels, Internet-distributed commentaries and print press. "There is a vast echo chamber in which if something is repeated often enough, it becomes its own reality. When there's mostly cheering, stock or bond prices rise; with boos, prices fall. Either way, the Fed must deal with what ‘the markets' are saying. The present panicky climate results, at least partly, from all the invective heaped on the Fed."

# # #

(Read cover package at www.Newsweek.com)

Newsweek "There Will Be Oscar's" Press Release - Jan. 28, 2008 Issue

Pressroom — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:07:51 GMT

http://www.newsweek.com/id/96123 - There Will Be Oscar’s

Contact: LaVenia LaVelle FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

at (212) 445-4859 Sunday, January 20, 2008

NEWSWEEK’S ANNUAL OSCAR ROUNDTABLE BRINGS TOGETHER BIGGEST NAMES OF 2007: CLOONEY, DAY-LEWIS, JOLIE, McAVOY, COTILLARD AND PAGE.

----

ON PROSPECT OF NO OSCARS: “NOBODY IS GOING TO CROSS THE PICKET LINE,” CLOONEY SAYS.

----

“WE’RE ALL GOING TO GEORGE’S HOUSE,” SAYS ANGELINA JOLIE.

New York—If the Oscars come around and there’s still no resolution to the writer’s strike, “The world will end. It’s fact. It’s official. I was told so. [laughter],” James McAvoy tells Newsweek at the 11^th annual Oscar Roundtable. “Nobody is going to cross a picket line. Nobody would even consider it. Would you want to be the only person at the awards?” George Clooney—the class clown—says. “We’re all going to George’s house,” Angelina Jolie adds. McAvoy, Clooney, Jolie, plus Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page participated in Newsweek’s annual event, moderated by Senior Editor and Movie Critic David Ansen and Senior Editor Devin Gordon.

Highlights include:

Clooney on getting involved in political campaigns:

“You know, Michael Moore—and I like Michael a lot—but that speech he gave at the Oscars was polarizing. It became Hollywood versus the heartland, and I always find that it’s best not to raise the rhetoric at that point. I’ve been a big supporter of Barack Obama since his Senate run and I’m a friend of his, but I said to him, “I stay completely out of it.” I don’t show up at those things. And believe me, it’s not because his group doesn’t say, “Come on, help us out.” It’s just not the attention you want. I worry about that a lot, because you don’t want to do harm.”

Jolie on capturing the essence of Mariane Pearl and the symbolism of working with a diverse cast in “A Mighty Heart”:

“She never came on the set. She was going to come the first day, and she walked in on me in a costume fitting for her wedding dress. I think she just realized in that moment that she could not see any of it. She said it looked absolutely exact, and then we had dinner, and then she said she was going to leave the next morning.” On the cast diversity and political aspect of the film, Jolie told Newsweek, “Just having all those actors at the table was a nice balance, because during this time when our country is at war and there’s so much happening, to be in India and Pakistan with Indian and Pakistani actors, who usually also don’t work together and don’t cross each other’s border, to have them asking us questions about politics, to actually have open discussions about 9/11, about Muslim culture, American culture, sharing food, sharing ideas, writing each other’s kids’ names down—that did something for us. It was really exciting to say, “God, that Pakistani actor or that Indian actor is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with,” and I don’t often think of actors beyond, you know, the list we’re all used to. I think that is very symbolic of what the piece represented.”

Day-Lewis on acting with his 10 year-old co-star in “There Will Be Blood”:

“He was just a great companion. He was my partner. I miss him a lot, actually. His mom was a state trooper, and his dad was a cowboy. They didn’t know anything about the movies. There was a moment, which could have gone awry at the very beginning, when his mom quite rightly thought, “What kinds of people are going to be involved with my son?” She wanted to see what I was going to be like, because she knew he would be spending a lot of time with me. So she rented a copy of “Gangs of New York.” [Laughter] And there was a flurry of phone calls. And the studio dispatched a copy of “The Age of Innocence” very quickly.”

Cotillard on what she did to pass the time while getting makeup done:

“I slept all the time. We had almost 30 days of heavy makeup. I wanted to kill everybody, and especially everybody wanted to kill me. So they put me in a bed, and they did the makeup while I was sleeping. It was very funny because there’s a guy who came to shoot video of me almost every day getting this done. And I saw the video, and they were doing things to me and I can’t believe I didn’t wake up. It was acrylic painting and latex and prosthetics, so there’s glue and all that. Sometimes I had nightmares, and I would wake up with a big scream and cry. One day I was crying while I was sleeping, so the makeup artist’s assistant had to spend four hours with tissues around my eyes, so the salt from my tears didn’t spoil the makeup.”

McAvoy on his experience with the paparazzi:

“I’ve only ever had anybody waiting outside my house once. We got in our car and we were followed, and it was very weird and disconcerting. We thought we would just go about our daily life and just ignore it, all that kind of thing. I think because we had once read that Clive Owen said just ignore it. Like, do whatever Clive Owen does—he’s a solid guy. We were going into town to buy something for the house, and we went into a parking lot that costs £10 an hour, and on seeing the price of the parking, the paparazzi went, “F--- that.” “They left us alone. So the lesson is, if you’re being chased by paparazzi, don’t drive fast. Just find a really expensive parking lot, and you will be fine.”

Clooney adds, “I just found out about 10 days ago that I must live 300 or 400 yards from Britney Spears. I found out because I came home at 10 at night and there’s all these helicopters over my house with these spotlights on… I thought someone had broken out of prison. Like something out of “Die Hard.” I get my baseball bat, which is what you always do in every film…and I called up my assistant, who I thought was in the guesthouse, and I said, “Are you OK?” And she said, “Yes.” … And I go out and I’m running around with a baseball bat in my robe. And it turns out it’s paparazzi over at Britney Spears’s house. So now I have to move. [Laughter]

Page on the movie that was the impetus for choosing to be an actor:

“It wasn’t until I was about 15, when I shot a film with this Canadian actress named Molly Parker, who I just absolutely adored and looked up to, and became inspired by. For the first time, I felt something different. I felt myself being overcome by something I can’t necessarily explain. But I wanted to keep feeling that and finding out what that was and learning more about it.”

# # #

(Read entire roundtable an watch the video at www.Newsweek.com)

Newsweek Cover Press Release "The Party's Over" - Jan. 28 Issue

Pressroom — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:00:28 GMT

Contact: LaVenia LaVelle FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

at 212-445-4859 Sunday, January 20, 2008

COVER: "THE PARTY'S OVER"

"In early 2008, by nearly every measure, the Republican Party is in trouble," says Former Bush Advisor, michael gerson.

----

NEWSWEEK ON: THE FUTURE OF THE GOP IN BUSH'S SHADOW and an EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT OF JACOB WEISBERG'S 'THE BUSH TRAGEDY.'

----

michelle obama: 'THE CLOSER' FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTES AND

CONCERN FOR her family'S safety.

New York- "President Bush has left the GOP in a precarious state. But the party's candidates can learn much from his failures," Editor-at-Large Evan Thomas writes in the opening essay of the January 28 issue of Newsweek. "It is too late to reinvent the party's core beliefs," Thomas writes. "But the GOP candidates can embark on a more humble mission: to show, in effect, some humility. By examining Bush's hubris, his almost willful disregard for annoying counterarguments, the Republican candidates can demonstrate a greater level of critical open-mindedness and self-awareness-they can show that they are not deluded by wishful thinking and Manichaean narratives." Newsweek reports that a dispirited Republican Party struggles to find its post-Bush path.

Michael Gerson, the former senior advisor and speechwriter to President Bush, writes in the January 28 issue "The Party's Over" (on newsstands Monday, January 21) that, "In early 2008, by nearly every measure, the Republican Party is in trouble." He says that, "Republicans in the House and Senate have been exiled from leadership and are retiring in large numbers. Fund-raising-the most tangible measure of enthusiasm-is weak. In the first three quarters of 2007, Democratic presidential candidates out raised their Republican counterparts by $77 million. One adviser to a major Republican campaign recently complained to me that a significant number of wealthy donors on their fund-raising list were giving to ... Barack Obama."

Gerson continues, "The party became closely identified with President Bush-and President Bush became closely identified with Iraqi violence and chaos. The slow response to rising sectarian conflict in 2005 and 2006 left an impression of stubbornness in a losing cause." he writes. "Now the frustrations of the last two or three years-the resentments of every group that has felt ignored, marginalized, helpless, slighted or unfairly blamed-are being taken out on the Republican presidential candidates. As each one of them steps forward from the crowd, he is greeted by ideological sniping."

Also part of the cover package, Newsweek excerpts Slate editor in chief Jacob Weisberg's new book 'The Bush Tragedy.' In which he explores all the factors that contributed to President George W. Bush's downfall from his family to his circle of political advisors. "Bush thought his father lacked a grand doctrine," Weisberg writes. "His greatest failures have come from trying to craft one."

And as part of its ongoing election 2008 coverage, Newsweek's National Correspondent Allison Samuels sat down with presidential candidate Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, known within the Obama camp as 'The Closer.' Samuels reports that as the race for the Democratic nomination turns to South Carolina and other Southern states, Campaign Obama is counting on Michelle to become the point person and close the deal with African-American voters.

Samuels reports that as the wife of the first African-American to stand a good chance of becoming president, Michelle Obama is understandably nervous about her husband's safety-especially since last May, when the campaign began receiving threatening letters and he was assigned Secret Service agents. Michelle says she gets lots of questions from African-Americans-especially older ones who remember the assassinations of King and Malcolm X-concerned about the safety of her husband, herself and their two girls, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6. "I tell people something bad could happen, and I think about that. How could you not?" she tells Newsweek. "But something great could happen as well."

As an African-American, David Mack, a representative in the South Carolina State Legislature who is a Clinton supporter acknowledges that, "there's an element of racial pride associated with what he's doing." And as a result, "a lot of blacks are still torn. That's why there's still such a large block of undecided black voters."

Samuels reports that, wooing those undecided is a significant part of Michelle's job, especially in South Carolina, where some 10 percent of voters have told pollsters they haven't yet picked a candidate. "She has family there and roots there," says the Obama campaign aide. Michelle believes that, "the most important message we can send out is to show that we are a solid family with love and respect for one another. So many times you don't see that in the African-American community." By talking openly about such issues, Michelle Obama may well help that solid family move to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Samuels writes.

Also part of Newsweek's January 28 issue:

Senior Political Correspondent Howard Fineman writes that presidential candidates blew through Las Vegas "like conventioneers" in search of the big score in the Nevada caucuses. But as "one of America's fastest-growing metro areas, Las Vegas is now also the leader in mortgage foreclosures..." he writes. Yet, the question remains "who has the right cards to deal with it?"
Newsweek's political team reports that for the 2008 presidential candidates, getting elected may be the easy part-a sluggish economy, an ailing health-care system, an immigration mess, the environment and foreign policy-the next president's got issues. In a series of short pieces, they lay out the challenges the next president will face.
Contributing Editor Ellis Cose writes that "the angry tone of the campaigns reflected not just the tightening of the race, but also something considerably more emotional: the feeling of many supporters of both candidates [Clinton and Obama] that this campaign is about making history and that the other candidate stands in the way." Cose, however, adds that few people he has spoken to thought race or gender would be the determining factor.

# # #

(Read entire cover package at www.Newsweek.com)

Newsweek Cover Press Release: Hillary Clinton: ‘I Found My Own Voice.’

Pressroom — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:40:10 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Sunday, January 13, 2008

COVER: HILLARY CLINTON: "'I Found My Own Voice.'"

"What I realized is that the reason I do this, why I get up every day, why I believe in our country and the importance of leadership, was not getting across the way that I wanted it to," CLINTON TELLS NEWSWEEK.

----

EDITOR JON MEACHAM ON HILLARY, RACE AND GENDER

New York- In the January 21 issue, "'I found my own voice.'" (on newsstands Monday, January 14) Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham examines Hillary Clinton's dramatic comeback win in New Hampshire and whether the battle for the Democratic nomination is one that will be determined by the historically complicated issues of race and gender.

To say it is late in the game for a major politician to have found one's voice is too glib, Meacham writes. Many public figures are works in progress, and they are all certainly human. Clinton's primary victory is a new chance for voters to get to know her beyond the caricatures, positive and negative, that have so long defined her. "Everyone forgets she went to law school when women were not 50 percent of each law-school class, and certainly not seen as litigators," says Maria Echaveste, a senior adviser to Clinton's campaign. "When you were breaking down walls, it wasn't enough to be equally tough. You had to build a shell to protect yourself. That's what she did."

That shell cracked a bit in New Hampshire, Meacham writes, and Clinton now believes it has to stay cracked. "What I realized is that the reason I do this, why I get up every day, why I believe in our country and the importance of leadership, was not getting across the way that I wanted it to," Clinton told Newsweek about Iowa.

She continued, "I get so focused on what I want to do as president that I get a little wonky. I get a little out there, with details, with five-point plans for this and 10-point plans for that, and I think that what I'm proposing really is both achievable and important, but it's not what gets me up, so why should it get voters excited?" she says. "But in the presidential campaign I think I sort of pocketed too much of that. I thought, well, I've been in the public eye for so long now...I don't think that was a smart assumption for me to make, or for my campaign to make, very honestly."

This is not the year for making any assumptions. Meacham reports that many Democrats have been waiting a lifetime for a viable female presidential candidate or a viable black one-and now they have one of each, and in the aftermath of Iowa and New Hampshire, the two camps are fighting over a great deal more than just endorsements. "I understand that," Clinton tells Meacham in an interview last Friday. "What a good problem to have. Two leading candidates for president, a woman and an African-American... I wish it didn't have to be a choice. I think a lot of people who are torn between us feel that way," she says.

"Torn is a tough word," Meacham writes. "But it aptly captures how many Americans, and not just Democrats, already feel about 2008... And these are early days: we are only just beginning to grapple with the questions of race and gender that the campaign will raise again and again through November." The campaign now moving out of the largely white states of Iowa and New Hampshire to the rest of the country will soon mean that the politically engaged across America will be presented with the likelihood that a woman or an African-American will be the Democratic nominee and perhaps the president. And, as Clinton says, it's a good "problem" for America to have, he reports.

"But this is a contest," Clinton says, "and the contrasts have to be drawn and the questions have to be asked because, obviously, I wouldn't be in this race and working as hard as I am unless I thought I am uniquely qualified at this moment in our history to be the president we need starting in 2009. And I think it is informed by my deep experience over the last 35 years, my firsthand knowledge of what goes on inside a White House."

Also in the interview, Clinton discussed issues that ranged from her childhood in suburban Park Ridge, Ill., to John Wesley, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King Jr. and, of course, Barack Obama. When asked if Senator Obama is right enough or experienced enough to be vice president, Clinton tells Meacham, "Well, I'm going to stay focused on where I am right now. I'm an admirer of his; I campaigned for him; I raised money for him... I am a very big admirer of his, and I think the sky is the limit for him-in the future. [Laughs.]"

Also in the cover package:

Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe and Chicago Correspondent Karen Springen report on the reality of Barack Obama's central claim as a candidate-that he is a change agent, a lifelong reformer who will heal Washington by bringing together feuding politicians of both parties-examining his voting record in the U.S. Senate and in the Illinois Senate.
Senior Editor and Columnist Daniel Gross reports that America's faltering economy may be the deciding factor in the 2008 election.
Investigative Correspondents Michael Isikoff, Mark Hosenball and Editor-at-Large Evan Thomas report that 2008 promises to be a banner year for gutter politics, and technology serves as a force multiplier for crude partisan passion. A Newsweek investigation suggests that political hit jobs are already rampant and likely to get worse.
White House Correspondent Holly Bailey talks with John McCain on the campaign trail, two days after his New Hampshire primary win, about how he found his footing, the war in Iraq-and his lucky nickel.
Senior Editor and Columnist Jonathan Alter profiles the chief strategists for the Clinton and Obama campaigns. "Hillary's man Penn is a pollster by profession and the quintessential Beltway guy. Obama's 'Axe,' is a hardheaded reformer," Alter writes. "Penn's weapon is his brain; Axelrod's is his gut."
Senior Political Correspondent Howard Fineman writes that, "Rudy Giuliani sees Florida as his Cape Canaveral: the launching pad for his better-later-than-never campaign... Of the three groups that compose the modern GOP...Rudy has yet to find a home in one."

# # #

(Read entire cover package at www.Newsweek.com)

January 14, 2008 Cover Press Release:'Our Time For Change Has Come'

Pressroom — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:13:45 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Sunday, January 6, 2008

COVER: 'OUR TIME FOR CHANGE HAS COME'

'This is the campaign I always wanted to run. If it doesn't work, it's not because of the organization we built or the respectful

tone that we set,' Sen. BARACK OBAMA TELLS NEWSWEEK.

----

WINNING IN IOWA: 'I think there's no doubt that it's a measure of our progress as a country. I've said from the beginning I had

confidence in the American people.'

----

JOHN McCAIN SAYS THE LESSON OF THE GOP IOWA CAUCUS: 'one, you can't buy an election in Iowa, and two, negative campaigns don't work.'

New York-On the eve of the Iowa caucuses Sen. Obama tells Newsweek in the January 14 issue "Our Time For Change Has Come" (on newsstands Monday, January 7), "I feel calm,"-24 hours before he'd know if it had all been worth it, or if he had been wasting his time. "This is the campaign I always wanted to run. If it doesn't work, it's not because of the organization we built or the respectful tone that we set," Obama tells Newsweek.

Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe and Newsweek's political team report that the Iowa caucuses reshuffled the presidential field in both parties, throwing primary season into dramatic full swing. Obama's high-minded themes of hope and change-and not getting your hands dirty-can come off as earnest, even naïve in the world of hardball presidential politics. But Obama is also a streetwise Chicago politician who put together a campaign machine formidable enough to take on the Clintons and win, Newsweek reports.

Polls had made it seem the contest would be close. Instead, Terry McCauliffe, Hillary's campaign manager, conceded that even Bill Clinton was "very surprised" by Obama's 9-point victory over his wife. The win crowned Obama the frontrunner, and put to rest the doubts of many people, both inside and outside his campaign. It also suggests that if his unorthodox approach to presidential politics worked in Iowa, it may also win over voters in other states around the country, Newsweek reports.

Generally shying away from discussing how "historic" it would be for him to win the White House, Obama nevertheless acknowledged that Iowa was, in fact, a noteworthy moment. "I think there's no doubt that it's a measure of our progress as a country," he tells Newsweek. "I've said from the beginning I had confidence in the American people. Race is no doubt still a factor in our culture. But people want to know who is going to provide healthcare that works, schools that work, a foreign policy that works. If they think you can do the work, I think they are willing to give you a chance."

This week's cover story reports that Obama's approach does not endear him to some Democrats who, furious at George W. Bush, came to the '08 campaign hoping for a fight. But for a more direct, unvarnished approach to politics, they need to look no further than Obama's wife. Michelle has thrown herself into the cause and the competition. Where Obama emphasizes hope and self-belief in his stump speech, Michelle Obama throws down a challenge to voters to step up.

While Obama rarely references his own racial identity or his personal struggles, Michelle draws a direct link between his experiences in overcoming prejudice to his readiness for power. Sitting on the campaign bus the night before the caucuses, Michelle explained her desire to shake up American politics. "We complain that politicians are mean and cynical and angry, but we've been doing the same thing over and over again," she tells Newsweek. "We have been making the same irrational decisions. When faced with the most rational choice, we hesitate-and that is, that we have to break out of this." Obama explained his impact on politics a little more modestly. "What I was so pleased with was not just the fact that we won, or the raw numbers, but what it showed about the country," he says.

In an exclusive interview, a day after winning the Iowa caucus, Wolffe talks with Obama about what his win in Iowa-an overwhelmingly white state-says about America today. "It means that America is hungry for change... You know, when the American people get it in their minds that they have the power to change things, it's very hard to stop them," Obama says.

Newsweek also examines the shake up and future of the Republican Party. Editor-at-Large Evan Thomas and White House Correspondent Holly Bailey report that John McCain and Mike Huckabee have been exceedingly polite to each other, aiming their scorn at Mitt Romney. The lesson of the Iowa caucuses, said McCain, was, "one, you can't buy an election in Iowa, and two, negative campaigns don't work"-a clear dig at Romney, who outspent Huckabee by about 20 to 1 and bought a slew of ads trashing his opponent. Openly praising each other while slyly knifing a mutual foe can work for a while. But if Romney goes down in New Hampshire and McCain and Huckabee roar into South Carolina on January 19 as the two frontrunners the love fest between them could be long over, Newsweek reports.

Also in the cover package:

§ Contributing Editor Ellis Cose writes that Barack Obama's win in Iowa is a moment similar to where the country was in 1976, when another largely untested idealist won Iowa's Democratic caucus. "It is quite possible that Obama can succeed where (President Jimmy) Carter failed, but not without helping America to embrace the fact that changing is a lot harder than talking about it; and that being an agent of change ultimately means shaking up things for many people who are quite comfortable with the status quo."

§ Senior Editor and Columnist Jonathan Alter writes, "Iowa Nice" is over. "The sweet culture of the cornfields...is giving way to states with a more bare-knuckle tradition. The question is how rough the Clintons and their wide circle of political operatives will get."

§ Senior Political Correspondent Howard Fineman writes that, "while Mike Huckabee advertises himself as a "Christian Leader," he is loath to talk about his preacher days. On the campaign trail, it is the Lost Decade of his life. Trying to have it both ways is what politicians do for a living. But in Washington and the savvier precincts of elsewhere (Nashville, for example), Republicans and their secular conservatives allies are distraught at the thought of Huckabee as the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee."

# # #

(Read entire cover package at www.Newsweek.com)

Cover Press Release - November 26 Issue (on newsstands Mon., Nov. 19)

Pressroom — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:52:08 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Sunday, November 18, 2007

COVER: BOOKS AREN'T DEAD. (THEY'RE JUST GOING DIGITAL.)

LAUNCH OF THE AMAZON KINDLE:THE FIRST "ALWAYS-ON" BOOK REPRESENTS A MILESTONE IN A TIME OF TRANSITION IN THE POSSIBLE DEMISE OF PRINT CULTURE

----

'IT'S SO AMBITIOUS TO TAKE SOMETHING AS HIGHLY EVOLVED AS THE BOOK AND IMPROVE IT,' SAYS AMAZON CEO JEFF BEZOS. ' AND MAYBE EVEN CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE READ.'

----

Newsweek explores what will happen when books are persistently connected

New York-Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos will be releasing the Amazon Kindle (named to evoke the crackling ignition of knowledge) this week, an electronic device that he hopes will leapfrog over previous attempts at e-readers and become the turning point in a transformation toward Book 2.0. "This is the most important thing we've ever done," Bezos tells Senior Editor and Columnist Steven Levy, the first journalist to have access to the Kindle, in the current issue of Newsweek. "It's so ambitious to take something as highly evolved as the book and improve on it. And maybe even change the way people read."

Levy writes that Book 2.0 is shorthand for a revolution (already in progress) that will change the way readers read, writers write and publishers publish. Amazon is well placed to move things forward, but it was not something the company took lightly. "If you're going to do something like this, you have to be as good as the book in a lot of respects," Bezos tells Levy. "But we also have to look for things that ordinary books can't do." Features include paperback-size dimensions, being able to change font size into an instant large-type edition, and the ability to hold several shelves' worth of books, plus hundreds more on a memory card and a limitless amount in virtual library stacks maintained by Amazon. And the device is not just for books. Via the Amazon store, you can subscribe to newspapers and magazines.

Levy talks to Bezos about the new device and the impact technology will have on the future of reading in the November 26 cover, "Books Aren't Dead. (They're Just Going Digital.)" (on newsstands Monday, November 19). "Music and video have been digital for a long time, and short-form reading has been digitized, beginning with the early Web. But long-form reading really hasn't," Bezos says. The Kindle represents a milestone in a time of transition, when a challenged publishing industry is competing with television, Guitar Hero and time burned on the Blackberry; literary critics are bemoaning a possible demise of print culture, Levy reports.

Though the Kindle is at heart a reading machine made by a bookseller-and works most impressively when you are buying a book or reading it-it is also something more: a perpetually connected Internet device. A few twitches of the fingers and that zoned-in connection between your mind and an author's machinations can be interrupted-or enhanced-by an avalanche of data. Therein lies the disruptive nature of the Amazon Kindle. It's the first "always-on" book.

Levy also explores what kinds of things will happen when books are persistently connected, and more-evolved successors of the Kindle become commonplace. First of all, it could transform the discovery process for readers. 'The problem with books isn't print or writing," says author Chris Anderson. "It's that not enough people are reading." (A 2004 National Education Association study reported that only 57 percent of adults read a book-any book-in a year. That was down from 61 percent a decade ago.) His hope is that connected books will either link to other books or allow communities of readers to suggest undiscovered gems.

Levy reports that the connectivity also affects the publishing business model, giving some hope to an industry that slogs along with single-digit revenue growth while videogame revenues are skyrocketing. "Stuff doesn't need to go out of print," says Bezos. "It could shorten publishing cycles."

Also part of the cover package, as the first journalist to get his hands on the device, Levy reviews the Amazon Kindle available Monday November 19 at www.Newsweek.com.

# # #

(Read entire cover story at www.Newsweek.com.)

Cover Press Release - November 19 Issue (on newsstands Monday, Nov. 12)

Pressroom — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:36:54 GMT

http://www.newsweek.com/id/69637 - 1968: The Year That Everything Changed

http://www.newsweek.com/id/69585 - Tom Brokaw Book Excerpt

Contact: LaVenia LaVelle FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

at 212-445-4859 Sunday, November 11, 2007

COVER: 1968: THE YEAR THAT MADE US WHO WE ARE

Newsweek looks back at one of the defining years of the 1960’s—

A TURBULENT PERIOD IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

----

EXCERPT: “bOOM! VOICES OF THE SIXTIES,” BY tOM bROKAW, CHRONICLES THE FIRST-EVER ORBIT OF THE MOON, A TRANQUIL ENDING TO A YEAR OF CHAOS.

----

retrospective includes A look at how meditation came to america; the growth of feminism; HOW PUBLIC EVENTS INSPIRED a boy to become a writer AND ONE BAD WEEK IN ’68.

New York—“There was at the end of 1968 an event that remains an inspirational symbol for the challenges ahead. For the Sixties were also the glory years of the American space program, and of astronauts such as Captain Jim Lovell,” writes former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, in his forthcoming book, “BOOM! Voices of the Sixties,” which is excerpted in the current issue of Newsweek. “The big goal was leaving Earth’s atmosphere and landing on the moon, to keep the pledge President Kennedy had made at Rice University on September 12, 1962.”

Brokaw writes that the three astronauts of Apollo 8 trained all year for the mission, which would have the spacecraft orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve, 1968. “When I met Lovell at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago—where he helped organize an elaborate exhibit commemorating the flight—I asked if the astronauts had been aware of all that was going on outside of NASA that year—the riots, the assassinations, the antiwar protests. ‘We were all senior military people,’ he said, ‘and we were so intent on our project we put all of that aside. We did talk about the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, and we worried the cost of the war would eat into the space program.’”

“Lovell says that even though he wasn’t paying too much attention, he thought the culture was disintegrating. ‘My background,’ he says, ‘was more patriotic. Listening to your elders, taking direction, trying to be a leader. The hippie movement sort of soured me’,” Brokaw writes.

The excerpt is part of the November 19 cover package, “1968: The Year That Made Us Who We Are” (on newsstands Monday, November 12). Senior Writer and Political Correspondent Jonathan Darman reports that while the 1968 election is four decades old, we’re still rehashing that moment—that era—in the 2008 contest. Barack Obama was born in the 1960s, but is not of them. Such is the constant promise—I am not the ‘60s—of his presidential campaign—heartfelt, but ultimately hard to believe. Just look at the gray-haired ‘60s idealists inside the senator’s own brain trust who see him as the fulfillment of 40 years’ worth of hard work. John McCain is also the ‘60s. McCain knows what Obama should have learned by now: the ‘60s are impossible to escape. They will define the 2008 presidential election, just as they have defined American politics, and American culture, for the past 40 years, he writes.

Also in the cover package, Newsweek looks back at one of the defining years of the 1960s—1968—a turbulent period in American history:

· Editor-at-Large Evan Thomas writes that in a year of tumult, one five-day span in early spring 1968 was disorder distilled. Lyndon Johnson’s presidency was collapsing. Robert Kennedy had openly announced his intention to reclaim the throne in the memory of his brother. The year culminated in the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

· Contributing Editor Ellis Cose’s essay recounts the personal impetus “…that shook my world, upended my life and turned me into a writer,” from the July 1966 Chicago Riots to the April 1968 assassination of Dr. King.

· Senior Editor Jerry Adler writes that 1968 wasn’t the only year that changed everything in America. Other years, like 1908—this was America’s year of destiny—were equally significant and are jostling for starring roles in history.

· Science Columnist Sharon Begley writes that in the spring of 1968 the Beatles traveled to the Maharishi’s ashram in northern India to mediate and brought Eastern worship back to the West, most markedly the practice of meditation. Now, some four decades later, meditation is widely accepted within the scientific community as a beneficial practice.

· Senior Editor Barbara Kantrowitz explores feminism and sexual politics of 1968 when women dumped symbols of female oppression—girdles, steno pads, and stilettos—into a “freedom trash can.” Bras went in, too, but none were burned, in the midst of the infamous and symbolic protest staged outside the Miss America pageant. Kantrowitz examines where the fight stands now, talks with the lead protester and Miss America 1968.

· Senior Editor David Gates writes that although the times they were a-changin’, in the arts, only music kept pace. Despite all the potentially rich tension and upheaval, 1968 didn’t produce much fiction, film or art worth remembering.

The package also includes a photo essay by photographer Nigel Parry featuring people who spoke out—and stood out—in the monumental events of 1968.

# # #

(Read complete cover story at www.Newsweek.com.)

Sen. Barack Obama Interview Press Release - Nov. 12 issue

Pressroom — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:58:25 GMT

INTERVIEW: SEN. BARACK OBAMA

Barack Obama CALLS Democratic front runner

HILLARY CLINTON 'disingenuous'

----

With the Iowa caucuses, a must win, eight weeks away, Obama Feels Sense of Urgency and willingness to criticize Clinton

New York—Sen. Barack Obama tells Newsweek that in last week’s debate, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s response on the question of her First Lady papers “was certainly inadequate.” “When she suggested somehow she didn’t have control over whether or not these papers were being released—what we’re talking about here is her husband’s presidential library. And when she is making a suggestion that part of the experience that she brings to this office is her experience as First Lady, people have a right to ask some tough questions. She can release these papers,” he says. When asked whether or not he thought she was being dishonest, he says, “I think she was being disingenuous.”

With the Iowa caucuses, a must win, just eight weeks away, Newsweek’s Senior Washington Correspondent Howard Fineman and Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe debut “Report from the Front,” a new series featuring online and print interviews with the candidates, in the November 12 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, November 5). They discuss the sense of urgency in Obama’s campaign and the amping up of his new willingness to criticize Democratic front runner Clinton.

Sen. Clinton’s answer on driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants seemed to be an example of her not being transparent. Obama says in the interview, “Look, watch the videotape. She said that she was for the [New York Gov. Eliot] Spitzer plan and in the span of two minutes said she wasn’t for the Spitzer plan. That wasn’t something that was prompted by me or anybody else but it was characteristic of her answers on Social Security and her answers on the papers from the Clinton years. Look, I actually recognize that this sort of straddling is oftentimes considered politically savvy in Washington…It’s been rewarded…The perception is that if you don’t allow yourself to be pinned down, then you’re making yourself a smaller target in the general election. That’s the conventional wisdom. I think it is the wrong way to govern. I think it is not what we need right now.”

On whether he is in favor of giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, Obama says, “What I have said is that it is better off that we know that people who are driving know the rules of the road, are subject to insurance, are making sure that we know we can track them if they get in an accident. A lot of security experts agree with me on this issue. It’s not optimal. What we need to do is make sure that we don’t have undocumented workers coming into the country in the first place. But here’s the more important point: people know where I stand on this and we can have a serious conversation and debate about it.”

Obama also discusses the major failures of the Bill Clinton presidency. He tells Newsweek,

“Issues like health care. She wants to take credit for having tried but there were a lot of big mistakes in preventing us from getting health care back in 1993…What was she involved with? Where did she participate? Where did she not participate in decision making? And that’s one of the reasons why these papers that are currently in the presidential library could be helpful in sorting that out.”

# # #

(Read entire interview at www.Newsweek.com

Mel Brooks Interview Press Release - Novemeber 12 issue

Pressroom — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:51:36 GMT

MEL BROOKS ON ‘THE PRODUCERS,’ HIS FIRST SMASH HIT: ‘I DIDN’T EXPECT IT.

I WAS JUST ADAPTING MY LITTLE CULT MOVIE—I DIDN’T KNOW HOW MUCH RESONANCE IT HAD’
----
SAYS HE WASN’T WORRIED ABOUT FOLLOWING UP WITH ANOTHER SHOW: ‘I WAS JUST SO HAPPY AND GRATEFUL TO THE FATES, THE GODS. EVEN IF I NEVER HAVE ANOTHER ONE, IT WILL ALWAYS BRING IN $100 A WEEK'

New York—Comedian Mel Brooks tells Newsweek that he wasn’t worried about following up his Broadway hit “The Producers” with his newest musical, “Young Frankenstein,” which opens on Broadway this week. “No, I was just so happy and grateful to the fates, the gods. Even if I never have another one, it will always bring in $100 a week,”he says.

“The first real smash hit I had on Broadway was ‘The Producers,’ and I didn’t expect it,” he tells Newsweek’s Senior Editor Cathleen McGuigan and Correspondent Nicki Gostin in the November 12 issue (on newsstands Monday, November 5). “I was just adapting my little cult movie—I didn’t know how much resonance it had.”

Brooks says this really is his fifth time on Broadway; he started in 1952 with Leonard Sillman’s “New Faces,” starring Paul Lynde, Carol Lawrence and Eartha Kitt. “I wrote one of the sketches. It was a great show—and a hit. Then I worked on another show with Eartha Kitt that wasn’t successful, and I did a show called ‘Nowhere to Go But Up’ that was good but didn’t run very long, either.”

There’s been controversy over “Young Frankenstein’s” $450 ticket price. Brooks says, “There are only 35 or 40 $450 tickets at the most, and there’s 1,830 tickets sold at the normal price. The $450 ticket, according to my producer, was to head off the scalpers. It all goes back to the investors. Like I said in ‘The Producers,’ never put your own money into the show because you never know.”

On why he loves doing Broadway shows, Brooks says, “The great, great, great thing about Broadway is that you get what you got into show business for—the immediate payoff. Make a movie, you gotta wait 18 months for your first laugh…This is the only place your heart takes wing. This is why I got into this, for this love and appreciation. There’s nothing like a live show. You can’t get goose bumps watching a movie, but you can always get goose bumps at musical theater.”

# # #

(Read complete interview at www.Newsweek.com)

Cover Press Release:The Billion Dollar Wild Card - Nov. 12, 2007 Issue

Pressroom — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:44:11 GMT

COVER: THE BILLION DOLLAR WILD CARD

BLOOMBERG ON RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT: ‘I am not running for president. I have 790-odd days to go in this job, the greatest job in the world—maybe the second greatest job.’

----

‘One of the sad things is that at the moment America is not liked around the world. We are closing our eyes… And I don’t hear from the candidates how they would go about pulling the world together, getting people to respect us.’

----

One year from Election Day, Newsweek takes an in-depth look at the people—and places—that could have a major impact on Campaign 2008

New York—For New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg—the billion dollar wild card in the 2008 presidential election—public service and public attention are inextricably linked, and have been since boyhood. Now he is thinking hard about taking a turn on the biggest stage of all: a campaign for the White House. The odds against an independent bid for the White House are long, but if Bloomberg’s life tells us anything, it is that he is often more motivated, and more successful, when other people say he cannot do something, writes Editor Jon Meacham in “The Billion Dollar Wild Card” cover story in the November 12 issue (on newsstands Monday, November 5).

A rich man with a record of service and seemingly limitless ambition, Bloomberg represents a formidable threat to the traditional party nominees, Newsweek reports. “This is a billion-dollar campaign,” Kevin Sheekey, Bloomberg’s chief political adviser, told Newsweek aboard Bloomberg’s Falcon 9 jet late last week. He then amended the declaration—slightly: “If it happens, it’s a billion-dollar campaign.” If it happens. What would make it happen? In Sheekey’s view—on the record, Bloomberg himself answers questions about his White House ambitions by saying he has 790-odd days to go as mayor, and that he could not be happier—the two major parties may wind up nominating candidates with negative ratings at or above 40 percent.

Looking ahead to the future, Bloomberg tells Newsweek, “I am not running for president. I have 790-odd days to go in this job, the greatest job in the world—maybe the second greatest job. The mayor’s job is where you can really get things done… And I have been successful in business, and I hope when I leave this job they will say I was a good mayor or a great mayor. Philanthropy will probably be the next big thing. I am lucky enough to have a lot of money, I am planning on giving it all away, and I think you change the world that way.”

Bloomberg believes, “The job of being president is to lead the country and the legislature, and it is pulling those together. And because America is the only remaining superpower, you are the leader of the free world, it is having the credibility and working with other countries to get them all to work together to stop genocide, to stop nuclear proliferation, to make sure we have fair trade among countries... And one of the sad things is that at the moment America is not liked around the world. We are closing our eyes… And I don’t hear from the candidates how they would go about pulling the world together, getting people to respect us.”

Pressed once more, he says he is not running, but then offers a lucid, if indirect, case for a man like him at a time like this, Newsweek reports. “I think that the candidates are not addressing, in a way at least I can understand, what they would do if they got elected. Unfortunately in the process that we go through—all of these, quote, ‘debates’—…there’s no way to do that,” he says.

Also part of the cover package marking one year from Election Day, a team of Newsweek correspondents look ahead to the 2008 presidential campaign:

· According to the new Newsweek Poll, almost exactly a year before Election Day, Hillary Clinton’s lead for the party’s nomination remains unchanged with 44 percent of the overall Democratic vote, compared to 24 percent for Barack Obama (down a point since Newsweek’s August poll) and 12 percent for John Edwards (down two points).

· Editor-at-Large Evan Thomas and Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe examine why the Iowa caucus, although arcane and confusing, has a critically important role in the 2008 presidential race.

· Senior Washington Correspondent Howard Fineman and Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe debut “Report From the Front,” a new series featuring interviews with candidates, with an interview with Sen. Barack Obama. With the Iowa caucuses, a must win, just eight weeks away, Obama talks about the sense of urgency in his campaign and amps up his new willingness to criticize Democratic front runner Sen. Hillary Clinton, whom he calls “disingenuous.”

· Trapped in a series of fuzzy nonresponses, Clinton was bruised in last week’s Democratic debate in Philadelphia. ‘The lawyer is back, like one of her bad hairdos from the 1990s,” writes Senior Editor and Columnist Jonathan Alter.

· Washington Correspondent Eve Conant reports on what the Democratic Party’s new Faith In Action Initiative is doing to court religious voters, and profiles Brooklyn’s Rev. Leah Daughtry, the group’s charismatic leader, who serves as chief of staff of the DNC—No. 2 to Chairman Howard Dean—and is in charge of planning for the ’08 Democratic convention in Denver.

· White House Correspondent Holly Bailey reports on GOP candidate Mike Huckabee and how, despite only visiting Iowa three times since August and spending almost nothing campaigning there, he is running a close second to Mitt Romney in a recent Iowa poll. Also, Editorial Assistant Andrew Romano reports on the time he spent with Huckabee and his classic-rock cover band, Capitol Offense.

The cover package also features an extensive online component at www.Newsweek.com.

# # #