TIME magazine managing editor Richard Stengel is in the New York Times today talking more about changing TIME’s publishing date from Monday to Friday:
“I want to be a change agent and not a caretaker, and this is a big, interesting, bold way to go,” Mr. Stengel said of the publication change.
“Friday is when people are receptive and are buying and it’s when you start the national conversation for people and for the Sunday talk shows,” he said. “By Monday, the conversation has started without you.”
MRC’s Tim Graham e-mails the Media Blog in response to yesterday’s post to reminds us of TIME’s history of advocacy:
Time declared Earth the “Planet of the Year” in 1989, and boldly included a laundry list of statist recommendations to save the Earth, including: “Raising the federal gasoline tax by 50 cents per gallon, from 9 cents to 59 cents, over the next five years could renew drivers’ interest in fuel conservation.” Since then, Time’s desire for a bigger gas tax has become a crusade: the magazine has called for higher gas taxes at least 24 times in the last four years.
But: Stengel is definitely playing to be a political force. My guess is they want to help control the whole weekend chat scene, starting with “Washington Week” all the way through to “60 Minutes”.
True, but it’s not like those shows need to take their cues from TIME. They’re all on the same page.