May 07, 2004 04:55 PM
3264 Views
(Updated May 07, 2004 04:59 PM)
Fasten your seatbelts, you are entering the rarified atmosphere of journalistic excellence. Salon.com. A website widely credited with coining the term, 'metrosexual man', salon is a vibrant, trendsetting website, and in my opinion, the best and most unique voice on anything worthy of note in the world today.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, ‘salons’ were little gatherings of leading individuals, larger than life figures from the world of letters or the arts – poets, painters, philosophers, who held discussions full of wit and intelligence on a wide variety of subjects. I guess this is the experience that Salon.com tries to recreate.
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Logging on
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There are salon members and then there is the rest of us. Salon members pay a subscription fee of around $ 35 a year, which allows them to enjoy the site free of advertisements. Plus they get major benefits that are just hinted at, not quite explained. The rest of us mortals, including all those who don't take home their salaries in US dollars, go for the Free Day Pass. This involves clicking on a link to watch an ad placed by the day pass sponsor. Not much of a pain, though some clever sponsors add many links to be sure that you don't minimize the ad and do something else in the meantime. At the end of the ad comes the link that takes you into salon premium.
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Inside Salon
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The topics in Salon include news, books, arts and entertainment, life, opinion and sex. Analysis and commentary rule the day. Though America centric, salon takes a critical stance on several issues. Iraq, George Bush - nothing is spared. The Book and A & E sections feature reviews and interviews. Life deals with life interest stories. Opinion features columns from media celebs like Ariana Huffington and Tina Brown.
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The stories
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Other than the usual news stories, Salon has some great exclusives. Fascinating stories, which might not be told elsewhere. Recently there was a profile on a Muslim family from Houston who was deported en masse to their native Jordan in the aftermath of 9/11. The story recounted the struggles of the Kesbeh children, completely American at heart, to fit into a new life. Another story I loved lamented the wanton abridging and santisation of classics for children. Another one, which struck a chord with me, personally, spoke to an author psychologist who said celebrity moms like Catherine Zeta Jones were exerting undue pressure on mothers to be have-it-all moms - jobs, joys of motherhood, great bodies and glamorous lifestyles. (It isn't really that way? What a relief!)
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Quality of writing
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Top class. No two ways about it. Full of attitude but free of posing. Salon raises the bar for writers everywhere.
If you have a little time to spare, do visit https://salon.com. I sit through the free day pass process a couple of times a week, to catch up on new stories and reviews. Salon's my oxygen bar.
