In the June 1 edition of Newsweek, Robert J. Samuelson wrote about the need to stop procrastinating and reform Social Security and Medicare.  Indeed, many people wonder why it is that we keep kicking the can down the road.

Conveniently, part of the answer came just one week later in the June 8 edition of Newsweek.  I can't find the graphic online, but if you'll turn to page 6 of the magazine, you can see that 57% of all letters to the editor received in the week prior to publication were regarding Samuelson's article.  An article about Iran generated the second-highest number of letters, at 19%.

Of the seven letters that Newsweek printed, how many of them were about Samuelson's article?  Four of the seven, which equates almost exactly to 57%?  Three of the seven, which would underrepresent the Samuelson letters by almost 15%?  Two of the seven letters?  One?

The answer: zero.  That's right, not a single reader response to the Samuelson article appears in the Newsweek dated June 8.

Not only does this shed some light on the stumbling blocks to a serious conversation about reform, but it may also provide a clue as to why publications such as Newsweek are having trouble connecting with their readers. 

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