Weekly Reader editor Maccarone has given a lot of thought to which subjects should be covered and which should be avoided. Asked why she ignored the Lewinsky story, Maccarone says it lacked any component that was newsworthy for her elementary school audience. But with no such conclusion, there would be no story. It's hard for kids to understand what's going on, and you are putting teachers in a very precarious position to explain something that a lot of parents don't want discussed in school. Time for Kids's Wallis knows this argument well.
Kids hear the news through a million different sources.
Both as a parent and an editor, I would rather have something that's going to explain what's going on in a way that the child can understand. How widely Time for Kids can get its news formula accepted will be tested over the next few years. Time for Kids president Leanna Landsmann says she is expected to make the magazine profitable this year. Scholastic Inc.'s Goddy welcomes the well-heeled competition, saying the introduction of Time for Kids into the market will ultimately benefit his company. Whenever they get tired of spending all that money to support that effort, those other people will be there for us.