Paul Boutin

You won’t find it online, but a couple million copies of Cargo’s July/August issue are popping up on magazine racks this week, featuring a guide to hitting the road with Wi-Fi by yours truly. It’s a how-to article for regular guys rather than geeks.

Cargo is CondÈ Nast’s latest launch - a buyer’s guide for men, generally between 25 and 45, I’d guess. It’s a spinoff of the wildly successful women’s guide, Lucky, hence its nickname “Schmucky” I overheard in the CondÈ Nast cafeteria. Jokes aside, I’ve been nothing but impressed with Cargo so far and will be writing more for them. Their car coverage just zings, thanks to 30-year veteran auto journalist Ken Gross (a guy who can call Trevor at TVR and get the scoop on their US import plans), editor Sam Grobart, and some great photography. The tech coverage is exceptional, too, with writers like Peter Rojas and Bob Parks.

Cargo’s website has original content separate from the magazine - such as the current slideshow of upgrades for your car stereo.

Jack Shafer defends the National Enquirer’s journalistic integrity:

Striving for the kind of journalistic accuracy that repels libel suits … the Enquirer truth machine had become so good that reporter David Margolick was toasting it in the New York Times for scooping the competitionóand applauding it for spiking many of the false stories that appeared in mainstream media.

The Enquirer may focus excessively on the exploits of show-biz figures such as Billy Bob Thornton, Lindsay Lohan’s father, and Larry Hagman, but if past issues are a guide, the tabloid isn’t making this stuff up. And say whatever ugly things you will about the modern National Enquirer, it hasn’t staged the filming of an exploding pickup truck like NBC News; it hasn’t been taken by a serial liar, as was the New York Times; and it’s avoided running preposterous stories about the U.S. government using nerve gas in Vietnam, as CNN did. Had Jack Kelley attempted to place his fictions in the Enquirer instead of USA Today, I’m sure the editors would have found him out.