Newsweek’s Editor Visits The Daily Show

By Spencer Bailey

“I do not believe Newsweek is the only catcher in the rye between democracy and ignorance, but I think we’re one of them, and I don’t think there are that many on the edge of that cliff,” said John Meacham, Newsweek’s editor in chief, on The Daily Show last night.

Originally scheduled to talk about his upcoming PBS show, Need To Know — which premiers tomorrow, May 7 — Meacham instead focused his discussion around Newsweek, his flailing magazine that the Washington Post Company announced yesterday it was looking to sell.

At one point during the show — and, indeed, a poignant point — John Stewart asked Meacham: “Who is making money in the magazine business who does what you do? Who is a successful model?”

Meacham’s reply: “The Economist.” (For more, see the video clip below.)

Ed.: Be sure to check out Sruthi Gottipati’s story about The Economist in this year’s edition of The New York Review of Magazines (which comes out next Thursday, May 13) to find out more about what, in fact, makes Meacham’s reply so telling.