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NEWSWEEK: Media Lead Sheet -- September 29, 2008 Issue

COVER: King Henry (p. 24). Senior Editor Daniel Gross profiles Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who has now emerged as the nation's most powerful leader-the investment banker in chief. Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, came toWashington from Wall Street in 2006 expecting to deal with issues like Social Security reform and trade agreements. Now he tries to save Wall Street. He continues to advise CEOs on the best course of action, to arrange financing and to get the best terms possible for his clients. Only now his clients are American taxpayers, the president and the global financial system. Gross talks to Paulson and examines how we got to this point.

    http://www.newsweek.com/id/160119

    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080921/NYSU004 )

TECHTONIC SHIFTS: "A Gloomy Vista for Microsoft" (p. 19). Senior Editor Daniel Lyons writes about the sluggish start Microsoft's new operating system Vista had when it was first shipped in January 2007. Users launched a massive online petition begging Microsoft not to discontinue its old operating system, XP. And many consumers, including Lyons, who'd bought new PCs loaded with Vista, reloaded them with XP. Now Microsoft seems to be getting the message, he writes. Working in collaboration with its PC-maker partners, it says it has ironed out the glitches. Lyons also points out that the struggle to get Vista on its feet hasn't hurt Microsoft financially.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160064

THE BIG IDEA: "Message: Get a Message" (p. 30). Jacob Weisburg, author of "The Bush Tragedy" and editor in chief of the Slate Group, writes in a column that Barack Obama has a range of sensible economic policies, a team of prudent advisers with a centrist, pro-trade cast and "may even have some grasp of why the American financial system has collapsed. What Obama doesn't have, so far, is an economic message. He's missing a story about what's gone wrong with the American economy and how to fix it." He writes that Obama's challenge is his cool, cerebral style. "Reasoning is a fine quality in a decision maker and bodes well for an Obama presidency. But when campaigning, it's helpful to be a passionate storyteller as well."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160084

INTERNATIONAL: "Why McCain Loves Misha" (p. 36). Moscow Bureau Chief Owen Matthews reports on the mutual admiration between John McCain andGeorgia president Mikheil Saakashvili. Their decade-long friendship is among the closest McCain has with any foreign leader. In many ways he's McCain's McCain- a passionate and unorthodox reformer, and a stalwart freedom fighter ranged against the Russian bear. But what worries many of McCain's foreign-policy consultants is how the two of them agree that you can't compromise your beliefs. McCain's affection for Misha runs counter to the instincts of many Republican foreign-policy "realists."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160069

POLITICS: "Here They Go Again" (p. 43). Senior Writer and Political Correspondent Jonathan Darman reports that for the Democrats to claim that the way it works in modern presidential politics is that they run on ideas and issues and the Republicans run on Karl Rove does not fully explain a simple reality: for 40 years, Republicans have won the presidency more often than not. For 40 years, it has been the conservative party in an essentially conservative nation. In this era, Democrats have managed to win the White House only when they have presented themselves as centrist stewards of the center-right consensus. They have lost when they let Republicans get under their skin.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160083

GLOBAL GIVING: "How Not To Save the World" (p. 45). Valiant efforts are being made every day to end hunger, reduce poverty, save lives. But if we really want to solve the world's problems, here are some things we need to do:

EDUCATION: "It's Not Just About the Boys. Get Girls Into School" (p. 50). Senior Editor and Columnist Jonathan Alter writes that one solution to get more impoverished children in school is to focus on getting girls in school. Despite some recent progress inChina andIndia, 73 million children worldwide don't go to primary school. Three times as many never go to secondary school. "The way out is not just to champion education generally but to focus intently on one subset of the problem: girls, who make up nearly 60 percent of the kids out of school ... Here's where to zero in on the challenge: most of the benefits that accompany increased education are attributable to girls, who use their schooling more productively than boys."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160073

POVERTY: "Cheap Loans at Insanely High Rates? Give Us More" (p. 51). Senior Writer Daniel Gross writes that what the world needs now is more subprime lending-a lot more of it. The massive extension of credit to people who lacked extensive credit histories and documented wages seems, in hindsight, supremely stupid. But from far from the madding, depressed crowds of Wall Street, billions of people are starving for credit. In an era when a great deal of foreign aid has been wasted, or fallen into the hands of corrupt officials, microlending has built a track record of effective poverty relief. But it needs to move out of the realm of the social worker and into the halls of finance.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160074

HUNGER: "Feeding the 900 Million: Let Them Eat Micronutrients" (p. 53). Science Columnist Sharon Begley writes that the answer to feeding the millions of hungry people around the world is not genetically-modified crops. A new report by agriculture experts foresees a limited role for biotech crops in reducing world hunger. Yields are unpredictable and GM seeds cost more than the poor can afford. Low-tech aid, not cutting-edge science, therefore has the best chance of both feeding the malnourished today and setting farmers on a path to growing enough to eat (and perhaps sell) tomorrow. The most beneficial and cost-effective immediate aid is providing micronutrients- vitamins and minerals such as iodine, zinc and iron-to kids.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160075

MOVIES: "The Rehabilitation of Anne Hathaway" (p. 56). General Editor Ramin Setoodeh talks to Anne Hathaway about her upcoming film "Rachel Getting Married" in which she plays a recovering drug addict. Her performance is earning Hathaway Oscar buzz for the first time in her career. But she doesn't talk about Raffaello Follieri, her ex-boyfriend who was arrested on charges of money laundering and fraud. Her new movie gives her something new, and very different, to focus on. "I'm curious again," Hathaway says. "I'm thinking about life as an adventure."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160076

TIP SHEET: "Surviving the Storm: What's Safe, What's Not" (p. 61). Contributing Editor Jane Bryant Quinn offers some assurances to individuals who are worried about their retirement and bank accounts in the midst of the Wall Street crisis. Your insured bank account is safe; your money-market mutual fund isn't as safe as you think, but you can make it safer; your AIG insurance policies and annuities are safe.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tipsheet/default.aspx

SOURCE Newsweek