Monday, June 9, 2003

Over the last year or so, I had been noticing increasing signs of poor editorial judgment in The Atlantic. Their July/August 2003 issue has reached a new editorial low with the publication of a so-called review of Sidney Blumenthal's The Clinton Wars by Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens submitted an affidavit to the House Judiciary Committee accusing Blumenthal of spreading negative rumors about Monica Lewinsky. Blumenthal denies this and criticizes Hitchens in his book. Now, Hitchens counterattacks. Rather than writing his own book or using his Web site, he is allowed by the editors to publish an attack ad pretending to be a review. The problem is not that that the magazine is supporting one side, the problem is that they are allowing their review pages to be misused by a writer with a major conflict of interest with his subject. If I was interested in this kind of low rant, I would listen to talk radio. I've canceled my long-standing subscription. 11:44:07 PM