A (fairly obvious) note: I've been posting the New York Post's Media City column for the past few weeks when it comes out on Monday. The reason? Well, the column is an institution, albeit an interesting one that does the not-so-simple (or perhaps, completely arbitrary) task of ranking our issue on whole. It is good to have alternate viewpoints, right? And since Jon Meacham likes to say that NEWSWEEK is a first draft of history, I like to think I'm keeping a record of how we're doing.

Anyway, this week we got a mere 2 stars.

The briefing:

"Obama graces the cover of NEWSWEEK's "The World's Most Powerful People" issue. One can't help but think the magazine is trying to cash in on Time's better-known annual take. Newsweek's version is basically a roundup of our current crop of world leaders, with some CEOs (JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon and Google's Eric Schmidt), celebrities (Oprah Winfrey) and religious leaders (the Dalai Lama) thrown in for good measure. The newsweekly puts a historical and philosophical spin on things with an essay about the roots and meanings of power. Warning: You will hear about Plato."