In Media Res

Here, from Jude Wanniski's 1986 MediaGuide, is my entry in the worst-metaphor-of-the-year derby: "Newsweek. . .took a jolt of testosterone when it took in [Morton] Kondracke." That's just one of many hidden gems in Wanniski's new "nonideological" guide to America's major print journalists. With the help of twenty-odd "news gourmets," the supply-side guru and corporate consultant has produced what he calls journalism's equivalent of "the Michelin Guide to the restaurants of France," with star ratings and all. Predictably, this conceit has caused much guffawing. Journalism has been compared to hash, or a cud, but never French cooking.

Be forewarned that the guide is pretty ideological nonideology. It criticizes "poverty weeps" and "environmental anguish" reporting. In 1985, the major press-corps development was "the naming of Amaud de Borchgrave as editor-in-chief" of the conservative, Moonie-affiliated Washington Times. It was also the year Star Wars "advanced toward enshrinement as the new foundation of U.S. strategic defense policy." Reporters who understood this are congratulated for being "on the curve" or "ahead of the curve." Reporters who did not are hopelessly "behind the curve" and in danger of a less-than-zero rating.

You won't find the guide at your local bookstore, though Harper & Row will be publishing 1987's edition. In the meantime, media junkies will just have to send their $15.95 to Polyconomics in Morristown, New Jersey, or borrow someone's free review copy. It's worth taking a look, if only for Wanniski's dramatic, odd, twisted descriptions. The Washington Post's former Moscow correspondent Dusko Doder is described as "a docile, unquestioning transmission belt for whatever the Kremlin put out as news or analysis." Anthony Lewis can be "tracked for the purity of his knee-jerkedness." Russell Baker is a "sourpuss."

Some compliments are given, of course. Rowland Evans and Robert Novak are—better sit down—"the most influential columnists in the world." Enough. Half the fun is finding your own favorites.

Alex Heard