I just sent this message to Time Magazine as an e-mail Letter to the Editor. I had only two issues left, but I just had to cancel right now.
Dear Time Magazine,
I have been a subscriber to your magazine since September of 1993, and witnessed much rich and compelling scholarship in that time. I still keep the September 11th issue on my bookshelf; Nancy Gibb's extraordinary untitled cover story helped me come to grips with the horror of that terrible day.
I have since lost my respect for Time Magazine, and it saddens me.
I have witnessed a consistent decline in the quality of the investigative journalism in the magazine, and a gradual slide from thoughtful journalistic neutrality into subtle partisanship in its feature articles. I had already cancelled my automatic renewal earlier this year because of these changes; however, I have just cancelled even the trickle of remaining issues.
I chose to cancel these issues because a single damning article stunningly substantiated both of these complaints: the recent cover story on Ann Coulter. If Time Magazine had retained the journalistic standards it so ably held to throughout the nineties and demonstrated with the September 11th special issue, this article would have been an exposé of the woman who has casually wished for the targeting of journalists by American soldiers. Instead, it was an apologia.
I found one line particularly horrific: "'Basically,' she says breezily [in regards to fliers in airports] 'aged 15 to 45-12 to 45, say, swarthy men ... We'd be searching you know, Italians, Spanish, Jews..." Horrible things will happen if we follow this woman's breezy recommendations. I am 36, I am male, and I am a Jew. When will I be segregated into the "suspicious characters" line at O'Hare? If the war on terror is "...a religious war, not against Islam but for Christianity, for a Christian nation," when will I be scheduled to renounce my faith? I am a Democrat. When will I be executed for treason? Ms Coulter may think such words are all a joke, and Time Magazine may be willing to dismiss them with glib rhetoric like "Is she serious or just having fun?", but I'm the one with the target on my back.
For those of you who also wish to cancel your subscription, you can do so instantly online here (It will re-direct you to the proper place). You don't even need your account number; you can use your name and address.
It will ask you if you want to cancel at the end of your current subscription or "now". Trust me, clicking "now" is inordinately satisfying.
Update [2005-4-20 23:22:14 by HeyThereItsEric]: I guess cancellation really is instant:
Dear Mr. [My Last Name]:
Thank you for contacting TIME Customer Service.
As requested, your subscription has been cancelled. Please disregard
any further billing notices that you receive, as we may be unable to
intercept them in the mail.
We are sorry to lose you as a customer and regret any
misunderstanding. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you in the
future.
John [Redact - he's not involved]
Consumer Marketing Director
Visit us at:
TIME.com: News & Customer Service. Online. All the time.
www.time.com/subscriberservices