A Rant On Editorial Integrity

My grandma started buying me Time Magazine for Christmas years ago and I've been a religious reader ever since.  My young college days are filled with many a weekly memory of me sprinting to the mailbox just after the mail delivery person so I could fetch out Time Magazine and begin catching up with the world.  Alright, the sprinting hasn't stopped, and I still look forward to Time, but today I have a rant.

Because I'm at the age where friends are starting to get married and have kids (or worry that they'll never find everlasting love beyond Gloria Estefan) Time's July 13 issue of "Unfaithfully Yours" sparked my interest immediately.  What I read first though, was "Warm Weather Words," a list of reading recommendations for the summertime reader.  I sidled up to my computer, opened up my New York Public Library account and readied my reading eyes and keyboard happy fingers.  Time did encourage a few new holds but I read the word "Kindle" enough times to make me squirm.  The sidebar of eight celebrity "Quick Picks" included five blurbs on the Kindle, including blatant plugs like, "Musician John Legend, who carries his Kindle everywhere he goes..." and a list of other forced mentions.  

This reeks of some sort of effort by Time Magazine's editors to push the Kindle and I don't like it.  Yes, of course, they're trying to stay up on the times and keep cutting edge with technology, but this crosses the line.  I want to know how Time is benefiting from this, other than the fact that they sell themselves on the Kindle.  Has advertising seeped a little too far into the editorial department?  I read "Warming Words" for the cold hard books, not the hot technology update of who reads The New York Times via their Kindle.  

I suppose I have little to complain about.  I'm still excited to settle into the infidelity article and remain thankful that Time is still ticking.

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