U.S. News & World Report


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U.S.News & World Report

U.S.News & World Report Cover
Executive Editor Brian Kelly[1]
Categories Newsmagazine
Frequency Weekly
Circulation 2,036,185 weekly[2]
Publisher Kerry F. Dyer
First issue 1933, 1948 (merger)
Company U.S.News & World Report, L.P.
Country New York City  United States
Language English
Website usnews.com
ISSN 0041-5537

U.S. News & World Report is an influential American newsmagazine published in Washington, D.C.. Along with Time and Newsweek, it was for many years a leading news weekly, although it focused more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories. It is particularly well known for its ranking system and annual reports on American colleges, graduate schools and hospitals.

In June 2008 the magazine switched its publication frequency from weekly to fortnightly, and in November of that year became a monthly publication.

Contents

Publication history

United States News was founded in 1933 by David Lawrence (1888–1973), who also started World Report in 1946. The two magazines initially covered national and international news separately, but Lawrence merged them into U.S.News & World Report in 1948 and subsequently sold the magazine to his employees. In 1984, it was purchased by Mortimer Zuckerman, who is also the owner of the New York Daily News.

The editorial staff of U.S.News & World Report is based in Washington, D.C., but the magazine is owned by U.S.News & World Report, L.P., a privately held company based in the Daily News building in New York City.

Despite its lurid headlines and conformity to the owner's political point of view, it tends to be more conservative than its two primary competitors, Time and Newsweek. It also eschews sports, entertainment and celebrity news.[3]

In 1995, its web site, 'usnews.com' was launched providing access to all articles from the print edition.

In November 2007, U.S. News published its list of the nation's best high schools for the first time. Its ranking methodology includes state test scores and the success of poor and minority students on these exams, and schools' performance in Advanced Placement tests.

In June 2008, citing the decline in overall magazine circulation and advertising, "U.S.News & World Report" announced that it will become a biweekly publication, starting January 2009.[4] It hoped advertisers would be attracted to the schedule, which allowed ads to stay on newsstands a week longer. However, five months later the magazine changed its frequency again, becoming monthly.[5]


In August 2008, U.S. News expanded and revamped its online opinion section. The new version of the opinion page included daily new op-ed content as well as the new Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

America's Best Colleges [1]

Main article: College and university rankings

In 1983, the magazine published its first America's Best Colleges report. With the exception of 1984, they have been compiled and published annually since 1985 and are the most widely quoted of its kind in the U.S.

These rankings are based upon data which U.S.News collects from each educational institution, either from an annual survey sent to each school, or from the school's website. They are also based upon opinion surveys of university faculties and administrators who do not belong to the schools.

The popularity of U.S. News college rankings is reflected in its 2007 release[6]

  • within 3 days of the rankings release, U.S. News website received 10 million page views compared to 500,000 average views in a typical month
  • 80 percent of visitors access the ranking section of the website directly rather than navigating via the magazine’s home page
  • the printed issue incorporating its college rankings sells 50 percent more than its normal issues at the newsstand

U.S. News also publish comprehensive college guides in book form.[7]


Criticism of college rankings

1990s

Main article: Criticism of college and university rankings (North America)

During the 1990s, three educational institutions in the United States were involved in a movement to boycott the U.S.News & World Report college rankings survey. The first was Reed College which stopped submitting the survey in 1995. The survey was also criticized by Alma College, Stanford University, and St. John's College[8] during the late 1990s.

2000s

Washington, D.C. region headquarters
Main article: Criticism of college and university rankings (2007 United States)

On 19 June 2007, during the annual meeting of the Annapolis Group, members discussed the letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the "reputation survey" section of the U.S.News & World Report survey (this section comprises 25% of the ranking).

As a result, "a majority of the approximately 80 presidents at the meeting said that they did not intend to participate in the U.S. News reputational rankings in the future." [9] The statement also said that its members "have agreed to participate in the development of an alternative common format that presents information about their colleges for students and their families to use in the college search process." [10] This database will be web based and developed in conjunction with higher education organizations including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Council of Independent Colleges.

On 22 June 2007, U.S.News & World Report editor Robert Morse issued a response in which he argued, "in terms of the peer assessment survey, we at U.S. News firmly believe the survey has significant value because it allows us to measure the "intangibles" of a college that we can't measure through statistical data. Plus, the reputation of a school can help get that all-important first job and plays a key part in which grad school someone will be able to get into. The peer survey is by nature subjective, but the technique of asking industry leaders to rate their competitors is a commonly accepted practice. The results from the peer survey also can act to level the playing field between private and public colleges."[11] In reference to the alternative database discussed by the Annapolis Group, Morse also argued, "It's important to point out that the Annapolis Group's stated goal of presenting college data in a common format has been tried before [...] U.S.News has been supplying this exact college information for many years already. And it appears that NAICU will be doing it with significantly less comparability and functionality. U.S.News first collects all these data (using an agreed-upon set of definitions from the Common Data Set). Then we post the data on our website in easily accessible, comparable tables. In other words, the Annapolis Group and the others in the NAICU initiative actually are following the lead of U.S. News." [12]

America's Best Hospitals report [2]

For the past eighteen years, U.S. News has compiled a list of America's Best Hospitals after evaluating thousands of hospitals across multiple medical specialties.[13] U.S.News & World Report evaluates hospitals, excluding military and veterans hospitals, based upon sixteen specialties. To be considered one of the top hospitals, medical centers must score at or near the top (at least two standard deviations above the mean) in a minimum of six specialties.

In the latest 2008 rankings, 5,453 medical centers were evaluated of which only 170 hospitals made it into the rankings, and finally nineteen ranked highly enough within at least six specialties to qualify them for the Honor Roll.[14]

Rankings

Rank Hospital Name Location Points in specialties
1 Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore, MD 30 points in 15 specialties
2 Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN 28 points in 15 specialties
3 UCLA Medical Center Los Angeles, CA 25 points in 14 specialties
4 Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, OH 25 points in 13 specialties
5 Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, MA 24 points in 12 specialties
6 New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell New York, NY 22 points in 12 specialties
7 University of California San Francisco Medical Center San Francisco, CA 21 points in 11 specialties
8 Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA 18 points in 11 specialties
9 Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC 18 points in 11 specialties
10 Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 18 points in 10 specialties
10 University of Washington Medical Center Seattle, WA 18 points in 10 specialties
12 Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University St. Louis, MO 17 points in 11 specialties
13 University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers Ann Arbor, MI 14 points in 9 specialties
14 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pittsburgh, PA 10 points in 7 specialties
15 Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville, TN 12 points in 7 specialties
16 Stanford Hospital and Clinics Stanford, CA 10 points in 7 specialties
17 University of Chicago Hospitals Chicago, IL 9 points in 8 specialties
18 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles, CA 8 points in 7 specialties
19 Yale-New Haven Hospital New Haven, CT 8 points in 6 specialties

Notes

  1. ^ U.S.News & World Report Names Brian Kelly Editor
  2. ^ Average Circulation
  3. ^ "U.S. News & World Report". Encyclopædia Britannica (2008). Retrieved on 2008-06-24.
  4. ^ "U.S. News Plans to Publish Biweekly and Expand Consumer Focus". The New York Times (2008-06-11). Retrieved on 2008-06-24.
  5. ^ "Red Ink: 'U.S. News' Goes Monthly, Hearst and Rodale Cut Staff". MediaPost (2008-11-06). Retrieved on 2008-11-06.
  6. ^ Putting a Curious Eye on a High School Ranking System" The New York Times (December 5, 2007)
  7. ^ Amazon's listings of U.S. News "College Guides"
  8. ^ Christopher B. Nelson, "Why you won't find St. John's College ranked in U.S.News & World Report", University Business: The Magazine for College and University Administrators.
  9. ^ Jaschik, Scott (20 June 2007). "More Momentum Against ‘U.S.News’". Inside Higher Ed.
  10. ^ "ANNAPOLIS GROUP STATEMENT ON RANKINGS AND RATINGS". Annapolis Group (19 June 2007).
  11. ^ Morse, Robert (22 June 2007). "About the Annapolis Group's Statement". U.S. News and World Report.
  12. ^ Morse, Robert (22 June 2007). "About the Annapolis Group's Statement". U.S.News & World Report.
  13. ^ Comarow, Avery (2008-07-10). "A Look Inside the Hospital Rankings". U.S.News & World Report. Retrieved on 2008-09-15.
  14. ^ "America's Best Hospitals 2008". U.S.News & World Report (2008-07-10). Retrieved on 2008-07-21.

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