T A B L E__T A L K Should Timothy McVeigh's execution be televised? Talk it out in Headlines - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y Under the Covers By James Poniewozik Manna from Condé Nast: Editors serve religious pap at holiday time (12/17/97) Genteel readers of the world, dig deep By Albert Mobilio The Levenger catalog rolls out the full-grain La Paz leather pencil cases for bookworms with a taste for the finer things (12/16/97) Smoke gets in your eyes By Janelle Brown Care for a little nicotine with your content? R.J. Reynolds makes a weird alliance with the hip new Sweater magazine (12/15/97) Author-free writing By Benjamin Marcus Interactive nitwits replace authors in new collaborative writing ventures (12/12/97) Run for cover! By David Handleman Whoozzat? Glossy mags race to put unknowns on their covers (12/11/97) - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE MEDIA CIRCUS ARCHIVES

________the_national_journal N O T_ J U S T_ F O R_ W O N K S_ A N Y M O R E HARD-CHARGING OWNER DAVID BRADLEY IS LURING JOURNALISTIC STARS INTO HIS PREVIOUSLY OBSCURE WASHINGTON POLICY WEEKLY. BY JONATHAN BRODER | When Michael Kelly was fired as editor of the New Republic last September, a favorite parlor game in Washington media salons consisted of guessing where the unpredictable journalist would land. Within days of his highly publicized dismissal, precipitated by editorial differences with the New Republic's owner, Martin Peretz, Kelly received more than a dozen feelers from the nation's most prestigious media outlets. These included Time, Newsweek, PBS's "Frontline" and his former employers at the New York Times. New Yorker editor Tina Brown even offered to make Kelly, who once served as her Washington bureau chief, the magazine's roving foreign correspondent, based wherever he chose to live overseas. In the end, however, Kelly surprised everyone by accepting a columnist position at the National Journal, the sober Washington weekly of politics and policy that has served as an indispensable guide for officials, lobbyists, lawyers and journalists for three decades. With the Journal's pre-punched holes for easy archiving, its think-tank writing and its circulation of only 7,000, many colleagues concluded that Kelly had opted to leave the profession altogether for a new career of wonkery. Nothing could be further from the truth. Kelly is just one of several high-profile Washington journalists who have recently joined the National Journal's staff as the magazine, now under new ownership, attempts to enliven its earnest image. Former Legal Times writer Stuart Taylor, whose reports about Paula Jones gave new credence to her sexual misconduct suit against President Clinton, has signed on, along with William Powers, the New Republic's former media columnist. Other lights include Victoria Pope, a former Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent and member of U.S. News & World Report's investigative team, and Charles Green, a highly respected former editor at Knight-Ridder's Washington bureau. And the hiring isn't over. There is talk that the magazine is now courting Jodie Allen, Washington editor of Slate, among others. Why are so many journalistic stars breaking from their comfortable orbits to join the National Journal? The answer seems to lie in the appeal of its new owner, businessman David Bradley, and his energetic vision for the magazine. Bradley, the 43-year-old chairman of the Advisory Board, a hugely successful business consultancy that takes up several floors of Washington's Watergate complex, always has been an avid consumer of the National Journal's brand of detailed, blue-chip information. Now he wants to take it mainstream by making it more readable. "I find it awfully earnest, even for my taste," the soft-spoken Bradley told Salon in an interview at his Watergate office. "But I love it. I love politics and policy, and I'm convinced we can improve the magazine without dumbing it down." At a time when many newspapers and magazines are focusing on entertaining their readers to maintain circulation, Bradley's new hires, as well as the magazine's existing staff, find his quality-driven vision for National Journal enormously attractive. "If you want to, you can go and write politics for George, but that's a silly thing to do," Kelly told Salon. "It's People Magazine journalism tarted up as political writing. This magazine isn't like that. It's a magazine for grown-ups." Bradley became interested in buying the National Journal last summer when he learned that its owners, the Times-Mirror Company, were going to put it up for auction. Editor Stephen Smith, concerned the magazine would get swallowed up by a large media company, convinced his bosses to permit a management-led buyout and entertain a private bid from Bradley. The negotiations moved quickly. By September, Bradley had acquired the magazine for an undisclosed sum. The exact amount will be published in the Times-Mirror's annual report. N E X T+P A G E+| Well-executed courtship - - - - - - - - - -