From The Managing Editor: Apr. 20, 1992

This issue of Time contains the most significant changes since the magazine’s creation in 1923 — a long stretch in the life of a successful and pre-eminent publication. We have redesigned TIME with you in mind, to make the magazine more accessible, more relevant and more valuable than ever in an era in which the instantaneous transmission of news around the world has transformed both how much — and how little — we all know.

The first change you will notice as you begin reading is the weekly news summary that starts on page 22. This section, called The Week, will deliver on the purpose that our founders, Briton Hadden and Henry Luce, set for the magazine in its prospectus in 1922: to keep busy people informed. Today readers like you are busier than ever and blanketed by sound bites and news fragments as never before. TIME’s news summary sorts the important from the trivial, the timeless from the fleeting.

After the news summary, you will find the main part of the magazine, a body of stories that do not just record events but go well beyond the news. These stories define the essential mission of a newsmagazine in the era of split- second global communications: to give you more — more than you saw on television, heard on the radio or read in your local newspaper. Not just more facts, but more understanding. The 1992 version of TIME’s prospectus might offer, as editor-in-chief Jason McManus puts it, “to meet the needs of busy men and women who already think of themselves as quite well informed.”

Toward the end of the magazine you will find a new section called Reviews. Readers have always looked to TIME for critical judgments on new movies, books, plays, art exhibits and other forms of culture. Whether to help you make choices or just to keep you current, we have grouped all the reviews into one handy section. The magazine then closes with People and Essay, two of the most widely read departments.

In reorganizing the magazine, we have made aesthetic changes as well. We believe you will find the new design of the pages cleaner and more direct, making it easier for you to find what most interests you. We have replaced Times Roman, the body typeface since the 1940s, with Time Text, drawn for us by Boston type designer David Berlow. The type is based on sturdy, clear styles like Century and Madison, which became popular in American newspapers at the last turn of the century. While you may notice that some pictures are bigger, the overall balance between photos and text has not changed.

As we worked on this new design, one goal was uppermost in our minds: never to forget that this was not only our TIME but, most important, your TIME. We have always been a newsmagazine and always will be. We know that you look to TIME for thorough reporting, excellent writing and sound judgment. You expect us to discover the undiscovered and explain the unexplained. In a world overwhelmed by instant, unanalyzed news, you demand reflection and perspective, balance and breadth.

This will be our goal, week in and week out, in the new TIME.