"The Week" - Must Read Magazine

A few months ago I ran across a thin, but colorful, publication at an indoor play area designed to keep toddlers occupied while Mommy relaxes with a nice frothy latte...or in my case gulping down the first quarter of the cup, ignoring the pain of the scalding hot coffee down my throat, in an attempt to get some caffeine in my system before I am "requested" to take a dive into the ball pit.

But on this particular morning, I was actually able to sit and flip through the magazine pile for about 10 minutes (3 hours in Mom-time). I started flipping through The Week and instantly was hooked.

The entire premise of this publication is to take all of the important domestic and global news from the prior week and summarize into half-page articles that are able to get to the who, what, when, where and why in about 2 paragraphs. The pieces then go on to give you snippets of quotes published in other magazines and newspapers, giving both sides of the story in a very fair and balanced manner. So basically, there is no liberal or conservative tone...no bias toward one side or another. Basically it's the facts, what editors and reporters on one side are saying, what those on the other side are saying, and what's next. Done. There's your news on what's going on in North Korea...next topic please.

There are several reasons why I have replaced so many of my other daily reading websites and publications with The Week:

1) They take a very funny and witty tone...and who couldn't use a little funny in their week.
2) It's a very fair & balanced publication. So for those who are read articles on a political topic and say "oh, this must have been written by a liberal," read on my friends. You'll get your conservative fix in the very next sentence. Happy Dad?
3) It's short, sweet and to the point. You don't have to spend 15-20 minutes, flipping from page C1 to find the rest of the story on page C8...which can cause serious injury on the stair-master.
4) It's extremely comprehensive, covering everything from world news and U.S. politics to investments, the arts, celebrities, recipes and even the best political cartoons.
5) Even while everyone else is still covering Michael Jackson's death as front page news, The Week is still only giving the story small paragraphs here and there...when there is actually news...THANK YOU!

All in all, I think that William Falk, Editor-in-Chief, is sitting on a gold mine here. I have yet to see any marketing done for the publication at all (but living in San Diego, I'm sure that we aren't their #1 Direct Marketing Area), nor have I heard anyone else talking about the magazine, so I assume that they are relying mostly on word-of-mouth? Either way...here's my word...AWESOME!