Truthout.org reports that Newsweek is selling hard news in its International issue and entertainment in the US:
Editor's Note: Newsweek has scrubbed the cover of its United States edition for October 2, 2006. The cover of its international editions, aimed at Europe and other world regions, has maintained the original title of the story, "Losing Afghanistan." The new cover for the United States edition features photographer Annie Leibovitz and is titled "My Life in Pictures." We offer the European edition cover and story here.
From Michelle Pilecki on Huffington Post:
So the powers-that-be at Newsweek figure that they can attract readers in Europe, Asia and Latin America with a dramatic cover depicting an Islamist armed with an evil-looking rocket-propelled grenade launcher that seems to be aimed right at the reader, who -- it is to be assumed -- would be thus "grabbed" by the prospect of a hard-hitting news story.
American readers, on the other hand, are assumed to prefer the soft pap of Newsweek Entertainment. "The audience is stupid" is the prevailing sentiment among the people at the top of the MSM, as Harry Shearer pointed out last week: "Whether or not they actually started out stupid, your programming [or editorial] decisions may help make them stupid." It's a self-fulfilling belief.
1 comment:
I agree that Americans are generally stupid and uniformed, but I am certain that this isn't because they take their directions from the media. Rather the media gives people what they want, the media version of other popular American choices:
- Applebees restaurant.
- Starbucks coffee
- Will Smith movies.
- Everybody Love Raymond.
- Houses with trim, cabinets, and neutral colors.
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