Just to follow up on our previous post about Scott Ott’s new gig, the difficult challenge of any satirist (as Malcolm Muggeridge noted nearly half a century ago) is improving upon real life for its pure absurdity. I swear, when I first saw it, I thought this latest Newsweek cover was some sort of quicky mashup produced by a mischievous blogger using Photoshop–but apparently, it’s quite real.
Of course, with Newsweek, who can tell these days? In any case, the current cover makes quite an interesting companion piece to this 2005 cover on an international edition of Newsweek. (See photo on right.)
As Newsweek’s own Howard Fineman noted in early 2005:
A political party is dying before our eyes — and I don’t mean the Democrats. I’m talking about the “mainstream media,” which is being destroyed by the opposition (or worse, the casual disdain) of George Bush’s Republican Party; by competition from other news outlets (led by the internet and Fox’s canny Roger Ailes); and by its own fraying journalistic standards.
Exactly. And this latest cover is proof that Newsweek’s rapidly shrinking audience isn’t becoming smaller; it’s merely becoming more selective, as I wrote in December. And it’s a two-way street: call all your readers socialists, and only socialists will read your magazine.
Related: “Our journalists know that good men are often despised by the mob; it just never seems to occur to them that they might be the mob themselves.”
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12 Comments
1. jake:I am John Galt!
Feb 11, 2009 - 4:23 pm 2. Jake Was Here:I’m looking at that international cover, trying to figure out what they mean by “The Day America Died”. Which specific day of the Bush administration are they thinking of? — there’s so many potential targets there for a truly committed Lefty nitpicker.
Feb 12, 2009 - 8:36 am 3. Ed Driscoll » Into the Belly Of The Beast:[...] of Jonah’s book, Michael Ledeen highlights Newsweek’s fear of dropping the F-Bomb on their recent cover story, which makes the reports of Nancy Pelosi’s next travel destination immediately after the [...]
Feb 13, 2009 - 10:53 am 4. Steynian 324 « Free Canuckistan!:[...] ASSUMING Dissent Is Still Patriotic, Count Me Out, Newsweek …. [...]
Feb 14, 2009 - 5:46 pm 5. Ed Driscoll » “Imagine A Partnership Between The Owners Of The Titanic And The Hindenburg”:[...] 2005, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman wrote: A political party is dying before our eyes — and I don’t mean the Democrats. I’m [...]
Mar 11, 2009 - 12:53 pm 6. Hot News » Howard Fineman:[...] Retrieved on 2008. ^ "Howard Fineman Biography." Keppler Speakers. Usefull Posts Ed Driscoll » Assuming Dissent Is Still Patriotic, Count Me Out, Newsweek…‘Frankly They Think They Can Roll Him’ | FinkelBlog…Dropping the Ball on AIG Bonuses [...]
Mar 22, 2009 - 6:39 am 7. Ed Driscoll » Newspeak Newsweek:[...] while it’s own international edition was stuffing an American flag into a garbage can for its cover story.
Mar 28, 2009 - 6:02 pm 8. Ed Driscoll » Oooh, That Smell:[...] Arnold Kling’s Progressive Corporatism thesis–which of course dovetails quite well with Newsweek’s infamous cover story from February. Filed under: Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal, Liberal Fascism, The Future and its [...]
Mar 29, 2009 - 8:42 pm 9. Ed Driscoll » Bachus Boldly Goes Where Newsweek Has Gone Before:[...] That’s nothing. According to Newsweek, there are exactly 435. Filed under: Bobos In Paradise, Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal, Muggeridge’s Law, Oh, That Liberal [...]
Apr 10, 2009 - 1:35 am 10. Ed Driscoll » Still, The Soundtracks By Herbie Hancock and Jimmy Page Are Pretty Cool:[...] gesture doesn’t look like it will help matters, even if though it should be Newsweek-approved. Filed under: Bobos In Paradise, The Future and its [...]
May 13, 2009 - 12:32 pm 11. Ed Driscoll » Welcome National Company Of The Wiz, Spinal Tap, And Newsweek:[...] from declaring we’re a nation of socialists who drop Korans into toilets and American flags into garbage cans, of [...]
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