Over The Edge – Dan Rosenbaum's random musings

Trivializing the Worst

Bob Woodward’s new book about the invasion of Iraq quotes Colin Powell as telling George W. of the importance of a post-war political solution. This has apparently upset the good folks at Pottery Barn. From the NYDailyNews: “You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people. You will own all their hopes, […]

John Evans, 66

Unless you were deeply, madly, hopelessly deep into the worlds of online media and magazines, you probably don’t know John Evans, who passed away the other day at the age of 66. Evans spent a lot of years an exec for Rupert Murdoch, which makes him sort of an odd person for me to have […]

Blogging as Journalism Redux

There’s been a recent flare-up in BlogSpace regarding the evergreen question of whether weblogging is or can be journalism. I do try to avoid excess navel-gazing, but there are so many otherwise smart people spinning their wheels on the subject, that I feel like I have to weigh in briefly. The short version: Don’t confuse […]

The Record Industry, Lie? Y’Think?

Confusing correlation for causality, the record industry has long blamed file sharing networks like Napster and Kazaa for a drop in music sales. At last, an independent study says that whatever has caused the woes of the music business — like, for instance, that lots of contemporary music sucks, or that bands can’t build a […]

Filed Under: Politics

Launching Magazines

About 20 years ago, I’d decided that I wanted to launch a magazine. Though I had lots of experience in the wire service business and had written for many magazines, I’d never actually worked on staff anywhere. Not being a total idiot, I realized that I needed maybe a little more information before diving in. […]

Bake for 30 Minutes at 450, Then Call 911

The excellent Southern Living magazine has had to recall its April issue because following one of the recipies could apparently cause burns. In a recipie for icebox rolls, readers were instructed to boil a cup and a half of shortening in water for five minutes. You may have heard that oil and water don’t mix […]

Yeah, Like Anyone’s Gonna Stop to Read the Fine Print Anyway

Seems that there’s a new federally required warning on condom wrappers. From the AP: Justin Kleinman hadn’t noticed the condom packet wording until he squinted to read it recently. “This is completely pointless,” the 24-year-old Chicagoan said of the warning telling him that, while condoms can help prevent the spread of some sexually transmitted diseases, […]

Hey, You!

Maybe the worst-kept secret in publishing has been Time Inc.’s plan to launch a newsstand magazine exclusively distributed through Wal*Marts. (Why Wal*Mart? Because it sells 15 percent of all newsstand copies in the U.S.) Name of the magazine: All You. Oh-kay In the interest of providing some free consulting to Time Inc., here are some […]

Empty Pages

This piece, from the Toronto Globe and Mail, starts to get at something true: that newsstand magazines increasingly suck. This pains me. I love magazines. I’ve spent a fair amount of my life making magazines — and, if I may be so bold, some pretty damned good ones. All too often, though, I find myself […]