A new watchdog for the watchdogs

In a letter to readers, Brill says his magazine aims to embarrass journalists into "doing their jobs the way they're supposed to - with integrity, honesty, fairness and accuracy."

Noble work, that. And he certainly will have no shortage of folks to shame.

But does the world really need another magazine on journalism? Don't journalists already spend too much time gazing at their navels when they ought to be committing journalism?

The Columbia Journalism Review and the American Journalism Review, to name just two, do a fine job of covering the media.

There's always room for a new thoughtful and hard-hitting publication about the media, however.

Brill's Content may fit the bill - as long as it doesn't end up being more Brill than content.

Brill, former editor of The American Lawyer magazine and creator of Court TV, would be wise to steer clear of the bravado and sensationalism that have made the news media so distasteful to so many Americans.

Promotional ads for Brill's Content describe the 47-year-old as "a legendary journalist" and announce that his new venture means that "the media's free ride has come to a screeching halt."

The first issue of Brill's Content reportedly includes a story by Brill that uncovers anonymous sources behind some of the early stories on the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Revealing those sources may well be edifying, but if Brill intends to routinely do such things - as many reporters fear - it could quickly degenerate into a game of "gotcha" that will do little but stifle the free flow of information.

Brill says he has a safeguard to prevent his magazine from sinking into the journalistic excesses he aims to expose.

Bill Kovach, former executive editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, will serve as ombudsman for Brill's Content - the watchdog's watchdog's watchdog, if you will.

In his letter to readers, Brill says Kovach has been paid in advance for two years and that the only way he'll be fired is if the magazine folds.

If that's the case, Kovach might end up providing the most interesting content in Content.

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