Mort Zuckerman Denounces Service Journalism
The Chronicle of Higher Education takes a look at U.S. News and World Report's annual "best colleges" issue and suggests that it's one of the only reasons people actually ever recall that there's a third newsweekly option on America's newsstands. But U.S. News owner Mort Zuckerman disputes the fact that the publication takes the extra-ad revenue generated by the "this school is better than that school" issue into consideration when publishing.
"We don't think about it in those terms," Mr. Zuckerman said in a minute-and-a-half phone interview that he abruptly ended. "Does it have a value today given the general decline in news interest among the public? Yes. It's this kind of useful news that people want. But I didn't do it for business reasons."
It's true. Zuckerman does nothing for business reasons. U.S. News would never stoop to the kind of gimmickry in which its competitors engage. Take a look at the cover of the current issue, for instance. It's a public service, really. A mission, one might say.
