The Editor’s Desk

It may have been the most productive coffee date in NEWSWEEK history. Almost a decade ago, after the death of Meg Greenfield, Rick Smith, the magazine's longtime editor in chief, reached out to one of the great voices of the boomer generation: Anna Quindlen, who had left The New York Times in 1995 to devote herself full-time to writing fiction. Anna was—and is—among the most sought-after journalists in the country: even her commencement speeches have become bestsellers. She was not looking for more work—far from it. But when Rick called to ask her to meet for a conversation on the Upper West Side, she graciously accepted. Anna was not interested, saying that she had given up the days when she would have to pull her car over to the side of the road to jot down urgent thoughts for a column. Rick, on his way to Tokyo, asked her to think it over.

To the great good fortune of NEWSWEEK's readers, she did, and ultimately agreed to succeed Meg as one of our two LAST WORD columnists. She and George F. Will have brought their—how to put it?—divergent perspectives to the page through a tumultuous decade of terror, war and the rise of a new political generation.

Now, for reasons she lays out in characteristically insightful detail, Anna is giving up her biweekly column for us (though she will continue to contribute occasional essays). It is time, she thinks, to make way for younger voices, and her case is an interesting one. As my friend and adviser, Anna has long been part of the fabric of the magazine, and that will not change. Readers of her novels will benefit, for she will now have more time to invest in her fiction. Our thanks to her for this great run, and to Rick for making it happen.

Anna's decision is among the many reasons this is a bittersweet moment for us. The issue of the magazine you are holding is the last that will be presented in this long-familiar format. Beginning in two weeks, on Monday, May 18, we will publish a rethought and reinvented NEWSWEEK, one that preserves our traditional journalistic values while inaugurating a fresh and bold approach to reporting and thinking about the world. (The new version of Newsweek.com goes live Friday, May 15.)

When I became editor a little more than two years ago, I received a lovely note from an old NEWSWEEK hand. The presidential campaign of 2008 was beginning, Iraq and Afghanistan seemed to be wars without end and there was, as always, the threat of terror. If we have ever needed a great newsmagazine, he wrote me, we needed one now. I could not have agreed more then, or today. (For a sense of the gravity of our era, take a look at the excerpt this week from Richard N. Haass's revealing new book, "War of Necessity, War of Choice," about the first and second Iraq conflicts.) The magazine will be organized differently and have a new look, but our commitment to substantive, fair-minded journalism remains unchanged.

If you like NEWSWEEK now, you will, I think, love the path we are taking; and if you have not given us a look in a while (or ever), you will, I believe, find that our pages and our Web site will repay the investment of your time.

For all the change, our future is inextricably linked to the spirit of our past. When Philip Graham addressed NEWSWEEK correspondents during a meeting in London in 1963, he spoke words that have been cited frequently ever since: that the magazine should be the first rough draft of history. In a little-noted passage in the same remarks, he said something else, too, equally relevant to us now: that he hoped NEWSWEEK would "not grow timid of trying for excellence." We will see you on May 18.