Salon | Letters to the editor

_______________UNDER THE COVERS: BRILLIAN MISTAKE BY JAMES PONIEWOZIK(12/15/98)

I don't drink milk at night, but other than that I agreed with much of James Poniewozik's thoughtful, smart article about us. I should say, though, that I found with Court TV and the American Lawyer (which was serious but always accused of being gossipy by lawyers -- who, of course, as a group make me look like Howard Stern) that it made more sense to get the core stuff right and, indeed, seriously right, before you move off and stretch a bit. We've probably overdone it some, because our stuff doesn't all deserve the same treatment. But some of it is, indeed, serious stuff that needs to be treated seriously, and if I have one critique of the piece it's that I don't think Poniewozik was sensitive enough to the criticism we'd get and deserve if we were always as casual as all the other guys.
Also, if direct-mail responses and pay-ups on those direct mails are any indication, it's all made good business sense. As a matter of fact, your piece was a wake-up call because, as I constantly tell people around here, we have to keep changing and getting better even if the marketplace is telling us that we're OK.
In any event, I think you'll see some of these changes in the next issue (which means you can't take credit for them, because we've already done most of it) and in the issue after that.
-- Steve Brill
We take issue with an assertion in James Poniewozik's article that Brill's Content has a glass of milk and goes to bed at 9:30. In an unscientific survey of the magazine's editorial staff, we discovered that not one of the 17 respondents regularly drinks milk before going to bed. A third of the staff (34 percent) doesn't even drink milk. In fact, three staffers are lactose intolerant. And, contrary to Poniewozik's blind assertion, the average bedtime is 12:07 a.m. Perhaps your reporter should have done his homework before playing fast and loose with the facts.
-- Ted Rose
Staff Writer, Brill's Content
-- Katherine Rosman
Staff Writer, Brill's Content
James Poniewozik has Brill's Content nailed. What he fails to mention (and what has been surprisingly absent in discussions of the magazine) is that there already is a publication devoted to policing the media. Columbia Journalism Review regularly turns out thoughtful, balanced pieces without the flag-waving moral fervor of Content. CJR focuses on what "we" are doing right or wrong, whereas Content self-righteously exposes what "they" are doing wrong. Had Brill decided to take on journalism from an insider's view (a natural choice, considering the format of his critique), rather than as an observer, the magazine might be more compelling. It may also help that CJR puts out far fewer issues. (Brillian disclosure: I'm not on staff at CJR nor have I ever contributed to it.)
-- Tina Davis
I can't see how Steven Brill could have written the "Pressgate" article without it reading like the Lawrence Walsh Report. With so many rogues, and so many sleazy journalists who were obviously going to attack back with their publications behind them -- how could it have been written otherwise?
That said, I agree that the magazine is unnecessarily humorless. For every "Pressgate," there should be three good shorter articles on interesting stories. He could start with "Howie Kurtz's Institutional Baggage," which would be most entertaining, or "Why Marvin Kalb Cries When He Sees Tim Russert Hosting Meet the Press," or maybe even a regular feature called, "What's the Fucking Deal with the New York Times?"
-- John Goldsmith
Chevy Chase, Md.

_______________OF MICE, MEN AND MACHINES BY ANDREW LEONARD (12/15/98)

I was delighted to read Andrew Leonard's profile of Doug Engelbart, but I must correct one detail. Leonard mentions that the "Engelbart's Unfinished Revolution" event held last week at Stanford was "cooked up in large part as a dramatic public relations ploy by Logitech." This is incorrect. This event was conceived, planned and executed by Stanford University Libraries and Institute for the Future. It was most certainly not a public relations ploy by Logitech or any of the 15 other sponsors or supporters, all of whom were most generous in helping us make this event a reality on extraordinarily short notice.
Also, anyone who is interested in reviewing the events of the day is welcome to visit the event's Web site, where we hope to have the full proceedings of the day available shortly.
-- Paul Saffo
Director, Institute for the Future
EDITOR'S NOTE: We apologize for the error and have removed this passage from the original text.
N E X T+P A G E+| Did the president lie, or was he tricked? Plus shipping nude art and eliminating imaginary friends with drugs

_______________UNDER THE COVERS: BRILLIAN MISTAKE BY JAMES PONIEWOZIK(12/15/98)
	I don't drink milk at night, but other than that I agreed with much of James Poniewozik's thoughtful, smart article about us. I should say, though, that I found with Court TV and the American Lawyer (which was serious but always accused of being gossipy by lawyers -- who, of course, as a group make me look like Howard Stern) that it made more sense to get the core stuff right and, indeed, seriously right, before you move off and stretch a bit. We've probably overdone it some, because our stuff doesn't all deserve the same treatment. But some of it is, indeed, serious stuff that needs to be treated seriously, and if I have one critique of the piece it's that I don't think Poniewozik was sensitive enough to the criticism we'd get and deserve if we were always as casual as all the other guys. Also, if direct-mail responses and pay-ups on those direct mails are any indication, it's all made good business sense. As a matter of fact, your piece was a wake-up call because, as I constantly tell people around here, we have to keep changing and getting better even if the marketplace is telling us that we're OK. In any event, I think you'll see some of these changes in the next issue (which means you can't take credit for them, because we've already done most of it) and in the issue after that. -- Steve Brill We take issue with an assertion in James Poniewozik's article that Brill's Content has a glass of milk and goes to bed at 9:30. In an unscientific survey of the magazine's editorial staff, we discovered that not one of the 17 respondents regularly drinks milk before going to bed. A third of the staff (34 percent) doesn't even drink milk. In fact, three staffers are lactose intolerant. And, contrary to Poniewozik's blind assertion, the average bedtime is 12:07 a.m. Perhaps your reporter should have done his homework before playing fast and loose with the facts. -- Ted Rose Staff Writer, Brill's Content -- Katherine Rosman Staff Writer, Brill's Content James Poniewozik has Brill's Content nailed. What he fails to mention (and what has been surprisingly absent in discussions of the magazine) is that there already is a publication devoted to policing the media. Columbia Journalism Review regularly turns out thoughtful, balanced pieces without the flag-waving moral fervor of Content. CJR focuses on what "we" are doing right or wrong, whereas Content self-righteously exposes what "they" are doing wrong. Had Brill decided to take on journalism from an insider's view (a natural choice, considering the format of his critique), rather than as an observer, the magazine might be more compelling. It may also help that CJR puts out far fewer issues. (Brillian disclosure: I'm not on staff at CJR nor have I ever contributed to it.) -- Tina Davis I can't see how Steven Brill could have written the "Pressgate" article without it reading like the Lawrence Walsh Report. With so many rogues, and so many sleazy journalists who were obviously going to attack back with their publications behind them -- how could it have been written otherwise? That said, I agree that the magazine is unnecessarily humorless. For every "Pressgate," there should be three good shorter articles on interesting stories. He could start with "Howie Kurtz's Institutional Baggage," which would be most entertaining, or "Why Marvin Kalb Cries When He Sees Tim Russert Hosting Meet the Press," or maybe even a regular feature called, "What's the Fucking Deal with the New York Times?" -- John Goldsmith Chevy Chase, Md.
_______________OF MICE, MEN AND MACHINES BY ANDREW LEONARD (12/15/98)
	I was delighted to read Andrew Leonard's profile of Doug Engelbart, but I must correct one detail. Leonard mentions that the "Engelbart's Unfinished Revolution" event held last week at Stanford was "cooked up in large part as a dramatic public relations ploy by Logitech." This is incorrect. This event was conceived, planned and executed by Stanford University Libraries and Institute for the Future. It was most certainly not a public relations ploy by Logitech or any of the 15 other sponsors or supporters, all of whom were most generous in helping us make this event a reality on extraordinarily short notice. Also, anyone who is interested in reviewing the events of the day is welcome to visit the event's Web site, where we hope to have the full proceedings of the day available shortly. -- Paul Saffo Director, Institute for the Future EDITOR'S NOTE: We apologize for the error and have removed this passage from the original text. N E X T+P A G E+\| Did the president lie, or was he tricked? Plus shipping nude art and eliminating imaginary friends with drugs