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I subscribed to Time for a few years, then I discovered The Economist. The difference is enormous.
While Time is rather parochial, the other is truly international. Where Time writes about whatever subject happens to be popular at the time, The Economist offers comprehensive coverage weighed in order of its political and economic significance.
If you want entertainment, buy Time. If you wish to be well informed, buy The Economist.

First off, Time has excellent, creative and opinionated essayists. But article writers are creative as well, to the detriment of straight coverage. Take, for example, Time's latest cover story on Condi Rice. The second paragraph says Rice's running around to get her story to the press is akin to P. Diddy bragging about his marathon run. 1) I didn't know P. Diddy ran a marathon. 2) What if I didn't even know who he is? 3) Do I need to learn of P. Diddy's sporting life in a 9/11 - Rice story?! The same story, fourth paragraph, says Rice's prior coverage would make Donald Trump blush. Again, 1) Does Trump blush? 2) Do I need to this to learn of Rice and national security?! A story in the same issue compares a *baseball player* to a diplomat and Clinton, and throws in the ubiquitous "Kennedyesque." It seems fame of *any* type is the great equalizer.

Pop culture references are increasingly apparent in "serious" stories, add nothing to understanding, and act as mental roadblocks. TIme is beginning to have more "flair" than Jennifer Aniston's character in Office Space. See, I can do it too... but it's pretty silly.

Isn't there enough People style coverage elsewhere in Time without it bleeding into political coverage? Time shoud leave the pop reference to specialists (and maybe originators) like Maureen Dowd, Dennis Miller, and pure entertainment magazines. If you like writers who slip in how much TV they know, get Time. (And many political story themes are "how did (or will) this politician or policy play on TV?"). For depth, get a book or journal of opinion from The Nation to National Review. For entertainment, get People or Time.

I began subscribing to Time Magazine as a way of getting more depth on world and national events, as well as sound bites related to a variety of events. While I have found that Time Magazine leans a bit toward the left, in general I have been able to read through the slant of the language. Additionally, it is always good to have a balanced viewpoint of the world, and given my traditional lean to the right, Time provides some balance to my personal opinions.

The magazine presents a broad array of articles that cover key events such as births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and indictments, in "Milestones," sort of a mini-People Magazine. The entertainment portion covers books, television, movies, recordings, and even occasionally live performances. The "Numbers" portion is short, but provides comparisons of numbers to help put numbers into perspective, like the amount spent on school children per year versus the amount spent per soldier per year (I am unable to remember if Time reported that exact statistic, but that is the sort of thing they compare - it is fascinating). Time even includes letters to the editor, which are always interesting to read.

In keeping with the times, Time also has articles about computers and technology, and internet sites and scams are often reported. Time also does a good job of analyzing styles and trends in society, and how those styles and trends can affect us. Commentaries by writers such as Joel Stein often put these articles into interesting and humorous perspective.

At the heart of Time are the analytical articles. Typically there will be at least two and sometimes more articles that are in-depth. In some circumstances the magazine will explore a subject with several articles on the same issue, which is when the magazine also provides its most balanced reporting because the articles when then attempt to see the issue from all sides. The joy of the magazine is that with the quality of the print and the organization of the articles it is generally easy to skim and pick out key facts.

I've subscribed to a variety of magazines that are general news magazines over the years. I had previously tried Newsweek, which I also liked but thought was a little too focused, as well as U.S. News and World Report, which was great for straight on news, but again was more news versus an array of articles. It is Time Magazine's breadth that makes it the "Reader's Digest" of news magazines. It has a bit of this and a bit of that, and it may lead you to seek out more information on a subject. Ultimately, it is the exposure to the large variety of subjects that makes Time Magazine one of my favorite magazines, and now my only news magazine. Definitely subscribe because it is more cost effective, and the longest subscriptions are the cheapest. My son and I usually fight to see who will get the new issue of Time first. It usually doesn't take long to skip through it, but we each want to be the first to know!

I'm a staunch conservative when it comes to political affiliation. Don't hate me, liberals of America, just keep reading my review of Time. Some people label Time Magazine as left-wing, as a fellow reviewer did, above. I feel that it is unfair to label this magazine conservative, moderate, or liberal. Time is a news magazine, and tries to be little more than that. There are liberal magazines out there, and there are also very conservative magazines out there as well, and you should subscribe to one of those if you're looking for definitive partisan support on the big issues. Think of Time as a reporter. All it does is give the who, what, when, where, why and how of national and international current events. There is very little personality to the magazine, which is why I only gave it 4 stars. Yet, I have subscribed to Time for more than 5 years now, and I truly enjoy it. Time is very gimicky, as it is replete with colorful diagrams, well-organized charts and polls, and award-winning photographs. This is the image that I believe the Time editors are going for, and they succeed, most definitely. I'm not saying that the articles aren't worthwhile- they are. However, if you watch the news, read the paper, or surf the internet for your daily news, then you will find that Time will give little insight to anything new. The articles are painfully superficial, although they occassionally happen upon some truly unique news. I'd say that for the affordable price, Time is worth every penny. However, it is by no means a standalone for the educated person. Subscriptions to other magazines are necessary, and I encourage them.