All the News Our Tiny Minds Can Manage

For a little thought experiment, go to the website of Newsweek's international edition. There, running down the left side of the page, are three covers, all the same, for the European, Asian, and Latin American editions of the October 2 issue.

Each has a dramatic shot of a Taliban fighter shouldering an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). The cover headline is: "Losing Afghanistan," pointing to a devastating piece on our Afghan War by Ron Moreau, Sami Yousafzai, and Michael Hirsh, "The Rise of Jihadistan." which sports this subhead: "Five years after the Afghan invasion, the Taliban are fighting back hard, carving out a sanctuary where they--and Al Qaeda's leaders--can operate freely." The piece begins: "You don't have to drive very far from Kabul these days to find the Taliban." (In fact, the magazine's reporters found a gathering of 100 of them in a village just a two-hour drive south of the Afghan capital.)

Now, go back to the international edition and take another look. Scroll down the page to the cover which doesn't match the others. That's the one for Newsweek's US edition. No Taliban fighter. No RPG. Instead, a photo of an ash-blond woman with three young children dressed in white, one in her arms, and the headline: "My Life in Pictures." The woman turns out to be Annie Liebovitz, photographer of the stars, and the story by Cathleen McGuigan, "Through Her Lens," has this Taliban-free first line: "Annie Leibovitz is tired and nursing a cold, and she' s just flown back to New York on the red-eye from Los Angeles, where she spent two days shooting Angelina Jolie for Vogue."

"The Rise of Jihadism" is still inside, of course; now, a secondary story. After all, Angelina Jolie is ours, while a distant botch of a war in Afghanistan..? As the magazine's editors clearly concluded, while the rest of the world considers the return of the Taliban, let us eat cake.

Comments (18)

1. the mask's, maasch's, rio bravo's and lvliberty's are precisely the ones who would never notice this sort of subtlety.....

   Posted by darladoon at 09/25/2006 @ 5:25pm

2. Pretty sad to see Newsweek has such a low opinion of its US readers interest in the creeping Afghanistan debacle. Part of me suspects that Newsweek's low opinion is justified, however. Most people I know have completely tuned out and/or forgotted about Afghanistan. It seems like attention deficit disorder is unusually, and depressingly, rampant in the US.

   Posted by trabaris at 09/25/2006 @ 5:32pm

3. "It seems like attention deficit disorder is unusually, and depressingly, rampant in the US."

   are you suggesting that the executive editor at newsweek shares such a shallow opinion?

   Posted by darladoon at 09/25/2006 @ 5:35pm

4. DARLADOON:

   Yes. What other reason would explain what Newsweek did?

   Posted by trabaris at 09/25/2006 @ 6:04pm

5. uh.......marketing?

   Posted by darladoon at 09/25/2006 @ 6:20pm

6. Speaking of "news" too bad old SAlty-dog (aka NaCl) isn't still around. His precious weapons-grade anthrax fanatsy has just come crashing down intot he cold light of reality -- more Admin scare-tactical spin it seems... Lies, Damn Lies and Dubya

   Posted by leftofcenter at 09/25/2006 @ 8:31pm

7. Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 09/25/2006 @ 8:31pm

   There's much more [tinyurl.com] to the anthrax letters case than has been seen in the mainstream US news media. The real question is: why have they very studiously been leading the investigation away from the truth?

   A very obviously overlooked suspect is an interesting character named Philip Zack [tinyurl.com].

   Posted by fromredbird at 09/25/2006 @ 8:49pm

8. RE: the Newsweek story- the real story never comes out until the whole lying structure collapses under it's own weight. The imperialist system and it's paladins in both political parties are going to be defeated.

   Posted by fromredbird at 09/25/2006 @ 8:54pm

9. . . too bad old SAlty-dog (aka NaCl) isn't still around.

   Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 09/25/2006 @ 8:31pm

   I've had him on ignore from day one. I did always wonder if his moniker was meant to represent rubbing the salt of Republican victory in the wound. If he's seldom seen lately we can guess why.

   Posted by fromredbird at 09/25/2006 @ 8:58pm

10. George Bush refused to go after Al Qaida - The USS Cole had been attacked less than 2 months before George Bush was sworn in, yet he wouldnt go after them. "Bill Clinton says we should go after Al Qaida, so I'm not going after him".

    George Bush the idiot got his daily briefing - "Bin Laden determined to strike inside the United States. His National Security Advisor, Condoleeza "Tanker" Rice, never imagined anyone would fly a plane into a building. Star Wars missile defense pork from here to heaven was the big emergency.

    George Bush the idiot has made America less safe with his costly wars based on lies. Torture is increased in Iraq, electricity is down, and the terrorists have killed 3,000 American soldier plus 3,000 America civillians on George Bushs watch.

    Posted by conshame at 09/25/2006 @ 10:25pm

11. Bush: Go ahead.

    CNN: Mr. Bush, you are aware are you not, that your dad was responsible for helping to train and equip Osama Bin Laden as CIA Director and as Vice President under Ronald Reagan when they hired him and his terrorists to attack Russia in Afghanistan. Have you interrogated your father to find out what he may know about Osama Bin Laden from his experience?

    Posted by conshame at 09/25/2006 @ 10:31pm

12. Jesus Christ is not non-violent. Worship me, or I'll burn you alive forever. You know what the Bible says, so dont lie.

    Posted by conshame at 09/25/2006 @ 11:08pm

13. Posted by DARLADOON 09/25/2006 @ 5:25pm

    Interesting....so after two major disagreements with both RIO and LVLIB....they and I are "the same"?

    Well, given DD has "Ignored" practically EVERYBODY who isn't in lock-step thought with HER...no surprise.

    Posted by Mask at 09/26/2006 @ 07:10am

14. Posted by RIO BRAVO 09/26/2006 @ 09:04am

    Actually, DARLA does a major disservice to her "side".

    By going the "Zero" route of ignoring everybody who says something she doesn't like....she basically concedes that she CANNOT defend herself or her opinions.

    The fact that she's in the "pro-Chavez" camp, yet her representative in Congress (Ms Pelosi) just call Hugo a "thug"...shows how out of touch she is as well!

    Posted by Mask at 09/26/2006 @ 09:32am

15. The US media is truely in lockstep with a right wing agenda.

    For about fifteen years, and until recently, I subscribed to US News & World Report, but the publication dramatically shifted to the right beginning about two to three years ago.

    I have not renewed my subscription to the publication and intended to replace the weekly reading with a subscription to the slightly more left leaning (compared to USN&WR) Newsweek.

    After this cover story stunt, which in my opinion is clearly a pandering move to Republican election interests I am simply going to keep my money.

    Posted by freedomplease at 09/26/2006 @ 09:42am

16. Posted by FREEDOMPLEASE 09/26/2006 @ 09:42am

    If you want a news magazine just biased to the Left, why not JUST read "The Nation"?

    Posted by Mask at 09/26/2006 @ 10:23am

17. Uhhmm I DO read the Nation and I do read National Review and RedState etc.

    What I can't find is a publication that is centrist and is not peddling an unabashedly corporitist agenda.

    Any suggestions?

    Posted by freedomplease at 09/26/2006 @ 1:07pm

18. Annie makes me forget all about the ugly little countries. Thanks Newsweek for making me feel better about the world with the U.S. cover.

    Posted by Eddiguardo at 09/26/2006 @ 2:37pm