 editing. As Sloan made the offer, my mind raced. Bob Allen was in Florida. The piece was supposed to run under his byline. Could we even reach him, and, if we did, would he approve it? Newsweek needed it by Satur- day morning. Besides, wouldn't writing this put us right back in the middle of the downsizing debate? What was the advantage of that? Plus the snow was piling up outside my window. I passed and headed out into the storm. Newsweek's cover on Monday was a nightmare. At first, I thought it was a parody put out by some slightly addled college kids. Mug-shot- quality photos of four CEOs-IBM's Lou Gerstner, Digital Equip- ment's Robert Palmer, Scott Paper's Al Dunlap, and AT&T's Robert Allen-appeared on a black cover between the words "Corporate Kill- ers." The story inside was actually not as bad; it repeated much of Sloan's prior story, including the previous Allen quotes, and added about eight people to its list of "hit men." I noted that Newsweek had succeeded in getting only one CEO to present the opposing point of view: "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap. And I was amused to learn in later years that Dunlap's submission had been SO disjointed that Sloan, a master of arguing both sides of any issue, had been forced to edit it heavily. But the cover was over the top. When he saw it, Allen called the Washington Post's CEO, Don Graham, who counted Newsweek as part of his media empire. Graham did what any CEO in his position would do: He sympathized and passed the buck. By the end of the week, Allen had received a fax from Richard Smith, Newsweek's chairman and editor-in-chief: Dear Mr. Allen: Don Graham has told me of his conversation with you and of your deep concerns about our cover on this week's issue. First, let me say that I take those concerns very, very seriously. While the subject matter of the story is obviously a major topic of national debate, I sincerely regret any misunderstanding of our intentions caused by the cover itself. Immediately after seeing the magazine, I spoke with the editors of the issue abou