A fresh look.From the campaign to the financial crisis.

In print and online,Time is taking new approaches to meet a familiar goal,giving you the truth.These days,the press can't help but be a player in the U.S. presidential campaign.We're the moderator-for better or for worse.The candidates talk to the public through the media,and the public talks to the candidates through our polls.The 24/u7 news cycle-cable television,the internet,the blogosphere-has the effect of trivializing big stories and making big stories out of trivial ones.It's disingenuous to say the press is just the messenger,because we're often the message itself too.There comes a time in every presidential campaign when the political parties attack the media.The high water mark of that thus far was the Republic convention.And while our approval ratings may not be as that of congress.we're far from beloved either.But I want to tell our readers that no matter the criticism,we strive to get it straight,to get it right.Our job is to tell the truth,as we see it,and if the facts don't match up with the campaign rhetoric or commercials,we tell you.We know what our job is,we work for you.




Speaking of being of moderator,last week seven million viewers turned in to watch the Service Nation Presidential Forum Columbia University,which I co-moderated with broadcaster Judy Woodruff.Time was a co-sponsor of the forum and the summit the following day,which included First Lady Laura Bush,Caroline Kennedy,and Senators Hillary Cliton and Orrin Hatch.It was there that senator Hatch announced his bipartisan national service bill,co-sponsored by Ted Kennedy.I'm proud of Time's continued leadership on this front.Last week Time.com unveiled a brand-new look.Conceived by the site's design diretor,Sean Villafranca,and executed by our director of development,Shivani York,the idea was to being the magazine's look and feel into the digital world while allowing our editors more flexibility for news,analysis,and video.It looks great,have a look yourself.This week's hard-hitting cover on the Wall-Street meltdown was penned bt two of our favorite colleagues from fortune,Andy Serwer,the magazine's dynamic managing editor,and Allan Sloan,one of American's premier business journalists.We're pleased to have them in our pages,and you will be too.And finally I'm delighted to announce the debut of our new cartoon page,Drawing room,which is edited by Matthew Diffee.Diffee is one of the most talented and original cartoonists around,and his work appears frequently in the New Yorker and elsewhere.He'll be curating and contributing to the page,tapping the minds and pens of the best cartoonists.