Puzzle - Black and White and Red All Over

The clues can each be solved with words that consist almost entirely of N, S, W, and E, abbreviations for the four cardinal directions.

Clue	Answer
Anger	`INCENSE`
Cabinet Department	`DEFENSE`
Extreme stinginess	`MEANNESS`
Full House member	`JESSE`
Good health	`WELLNESS`
Harry Potter et al.	`SEEKERS`
It might wake the dead	`SEANCE`
Migratory birds	`GEESE`
Official agreements	`ASSENTS`
Rating system	`NIELSEN`
Rubbish	`NONSENSE`
Sesame Street character	`ERNIE`
Southland member	`MCNEESE`
Specific Algonquins	`SHAWNEES`
There once were 95 of them	`THESES`
They can be bent	`KNEES`
U.S. State	`TENNESSEE`

Placed in the correct order, the directional letters in these words will trace out the path drawn at the bottom of the page, with squares visited twice in dark red and square visited three times in bright red.

Answer	Cardinal Directions	Leftover Letters
`MEANNESS`	`NENSE`	`MA`
`GEESE`	`EENSE`	`G`
`THESES`	`ENNESS`	`TH`
`ASSENTS`	`ESSE`	`AT`
`SHAWNEES`	`WENESS`	`HA`
`DEFENSE`	`SEEES`	`DF`
`NIELSEN`	`SENE`	`IL`
`MCNEESE`	`EESE`	`MC`
`ERNIE`	`SSENS`	`RI`
`TENNESSEE`	`NESEN`	`T`
`INCENSE`	`NNSENSE`	`IC`
`JESSE`	`ENE`	`J`
`SEANCE`	`NEESE`	`AC`
`KNEES`	`SWNEES`	`K`
`SEEKERS`	`ESES`	`KR`
`NONSENSE`	`NEES`	`O`
`WELLNESS`	`ENNESSEE`	`LL`

The leftover, non-directional letters spell out a clue phrase, MAG THAT HAD FILM CRITIC JACK KROLL, leading to the thematic answer NEWSWEEK.