When I first started dating my girlfriend, we went back to her place to bump uglies, and I saw she read Newsweek. Well, I almost broke up with her then and there, because I didn't want the stupid to rub off on me (I mean I would have dumped her after having sex with her), but being the generous guy I am, I instead bought her a subscription to the Economist for her birthday.
Five years later, satisfied that she now meets my intellectual standards, we're happily married.
The Economist is a smartly written weekly news magazine that covers global political and economic issues. Lindsey Lohan and her ilk have never darkened the pages of The Economist, every story is well-researched, edited to exacting specifications, and most importantly, completely relevant to someone who wants to be informed of the important events of our time.
The Economist is written with a very obvious, classical liberal bias that stands in stark contrast to the two American journalistic styles; yellow journalism, and "neutral" reporting (which creates false equivalencies where none exist). They are occasionally wrong, but never ignorant, I might dispute some of their biases, but they have an impeccable commitment to fact.
While NYT columnists have more passion, and the occasional Rolling Stone political piece might have more panache, and while The Economist is never as entertaining as The New Yorker, The Economist is completely supreme in its niche. The Economist provides the absolute best political reporting week after week after week.
oh, and mr. economist subscription guy. send me a private message to give me a complimentary lifetime subscription. The $100/yr makes the cheap scotsman in me cry like a baby