Catch up with all the weeks news in an hour (Week, the)

Member Name: JamesConnolly75

Product:	Week, the
Date:	29/08/06 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comprehensive coverage of the main headlines from across the world

Disadvantages: Lacks detail and only one page on sport

have subscribed to The Week magazine for over a year now and thought I was long overdue writing a review of the magazine.

The Week is a weekly (thus the name) news magazine that covers all the weeks' main news stories from the UK and around the world. The magazines tagline - "All you need to know about everything that matters" is a great way of summing up the content as this magazine really does cover all the weeks news with not only the headlines but also view and opinions from various press sources.

General
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The magazine looks and feels aesthetically a little like private eye and is printed in A4 size on what looks and feels like re-cycled paper. The Week has been published since 1955 and been growing in popularity ever since, mostly by word of mouth, and now an American version is available in the US for our American Cousins. The Week is 44 pages (with no more than 9 pages of Ads) and costs £2.15 per issue however you can get a yearly subscription for about £64.50, which works out at £1.24 per issue. For content the week examines articles from over 60 world newspapers and about 30 leading magazines including The Spectator, The Economist, The New Yorker, New Scientist, Far Eastern Economic review and even Heat. With subscriptions the magazine usually arrives either on a Friday or Saturday morning - just in time for your Saturday morning coffee.

Content
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The week is split into eight sections, News, Letters, Arts, Property, Leisure, Obituaries, City and classifieds/crossword.

News
The News section covers the first 20 pages including the cover. The first two pages of the news section cover the two or three main stories of the week and how they were covered. Firstly they describe what happened, then they cover what the editorials said, then what the commentators said and finally they have a what next column discussing the next steps/ramifications of the news story. The next page is politics and has four or five columns - The controversy of the week, boring but important, poll watch, good week bad week, and an editorial. The good week bad week looks at key figures in the media spotlight that have had either a good or bad week and poll watch is a different poll each week on topical issues e.g. this week it was on the terrorist threat. The next page is Europe at a glance which is a map with the main news stories from various countries around it. We then move on to the world at a glance a two-page spread on world news, which like the last page centres on a map this time of the world and relates the key news stories. The next part of the news section is people, which as the name suggests is a number of articles on people in the news, a little side bar on this page I like is the recap of this weeks Desert Island discs on Radio 4. We now move on to the next page titled Briefing. This page covers a scientific or natural issue in some detail, this week it was about the alarming increase in jellyfish around the world, and it covered a round up of the issue and everything you wanted to know about jellyfish. The next three pages cover the best articles of the week from the British papers, the best of the American columnists and the best foreign articles. These are excellent as they allow the reader different perspectives on key news issues and the different national spins that can be put on these issues by the media. Moving on from these we have the health & science pages, which as the title states is the main news items from the world of health and science. The penultimate part of the news section is two pages entitled talking points. These pages cover gossip and news issues that, while not making the headlines have created some debate. To provide an example this weeks issues in talking points were on the war pardons for the British soldiers executed for cowardice in WW1, the A-level results and John Prescott's slagging of president Bush. The final part of the news is sport - alas this is only one page and only focuses on one or two major stories with a side bar on the main headlines.

Letters
The letters section is only one page however the spin on this is it is not the letters sent to "The Week" but a round up of the best letters of the week sent to the letters sections of The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent.

Arts.
The arts section covers five pages and has a page each dedicated to new Books, Drama and Theatre, Film releases and Art exhibitions with a list page at the end summarising the weeks guide to what's worth seeing and reading. The list page also provide a summary of the week to comes best TV and a summary of the last week in the Archers if you missed it and are interested in the long running Radio 4 series.

Property.
These two pages cover a selection of the best properties of a specific type on the market throughout the country at the minute. The type varies each week; this week it was rural idylls and period town houses. I must admit this is the section I rarely look at and just skip through not being in the market for a rural idyll or a period town house but hey you never know.

Leisure.
This section is the most important for use consumers as its three pages include a food and drink section a travel section and most importantly a consumer section. This week consumer section included; new cars - what the critics say, the best waterproof cameras, for those of you who have everything and the best places to get pampered when you're pregnant.

Obituaries.
This page speaks for itself really.

City.
This four-page section is split into four parts, Companies in the news, Commentators, City briefing and Shares - tips and best buys. I find this section difficult to rate as I am not involved or have much interest in the city or financial markets though the shares tips and best buys is well laid out and easily understood and even I can clearly understand it.

The Last Word.
This section is a two page editorial on a different topic each week. The topics are wide and varied and thus difficult to categorise the last two weeks have been an inside look at traffic wardens in London and the job they do and an article on the development of an English Country town in China called Thames Town an British themed development outside Shanghai complete with village green and red phone boxes.

And finally - Classifieds and Crossword.
Well this speaks for itself, however I feel compelled to point out the crossword is a match for the times and has a prize draw for completed entries. In addition there is also a Sudoku.


In Summary
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I must admit I do look forward to reading The Week each Saturday morning and it has become something of a Saturday morning ritual. It is easy and enjoyable to read and gives you a lot of information in just 44 pages. While it does lack detail the range of stories more than makes up for it and it provides a wide overview of all the weeks news for those with a busy lifestyle and without the time to catch the news or read the papers everyday.

I would really recommend the week to all regardless of age and I feel that it is one even the kids might read as the short concise articles don't require patience and the word power of a countdown panellist to understand. All in all a great read.

Summary: Great weekly coverage of all the main news stories from around the world