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| Which Side is Newsweek On? |
| 2005-05-22 |
| HT Captain's Quarters. From a blog, but one I'd never heard of with a great analysis. Go to the link for the pictures. Aeffingstounding Newsweek's false, retracted story about American guards flushing the Koran down a toilet at Guantanamo doesn't necessarily mean the magazine's staff hates America or Bush, or wants us to lose in Iraq. To be charitable, let's just chalk that one up to sloppy journalism. But I'm at a loss to explain this, from the February 2 issue of Newsweek's Japanese edition: As you can see, the cover story shows an American flag, dirtied and tossed in a trash can, its staff snapped in two. The large white text reads, "Amerika ga shinda hi", which translates to "The day America died." The equivalent international edition of Newsweek, the January 31 issue, featured a picture of Bush on the cover, with the caption "America Leads ...But is Anyone Following?": Both of the above editions featured a cover-story article by Andrew Moravcsik, titled "Dream on, America". (This was translated into Japanese as "Yume no kuni Amerika ga kuchihateru toki", which is even harsher; it means, roughly, "America, the dream country, is rotting away".) According to Newsweek itself, the article described "the world's rejection of the American way of life." Moravcsik's article did not run in the American edition of that same issue. The cover was also a bit different. It featured Hilary Swank, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx, with the title "Oscar Confidential": If you look carefully, you'll see that one of the articles from the other two editions is mentioned in a small blurb at the top: Fareed Zakaria's "High Hopes, Hard Facts" â€" here billed as "A reality check on Bush & 'Freedom'". Sure, they put scare quotes around "Freedom", but pretty tame stuff, all things considered. It's one thing for Newsweek to actively promote the notion that America is a "dead", "rotting" country overseas. But it's quite another thing indeed to hide those efforts from its American readers. If Newsweek really thinks America is dead, and our flag belongs in the trash, why won't it tell us? If I were to offer Newsweek a suggestion, it would be this: Any story or cover you're ashamed to run in America probably shouldn't be used in other countries, either. |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |
| #7 Which Side is Newsweek On? Gee, that's a tough one. Hmmm ... OK, my answer is "Who are the Islamofascists?" |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-05-22 23:07 |
| #6 Unnecessary, Soaz - the media don't need any help to discredit themselves. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-05-22 21:55 |
| #5 I wonder what the prospect is for government and military officials to leak false stories to gulible news reporters in order to discredit them. |
| Posted by: Soaz 2005-05-22 18:58 |
| #4 Then why wouldn't they do that in the USA? Or are they tailoring to only their residential states where, presumably, their views are accepted as accurate and informed? Newsweak, during the first Gulf War, was head and shoulders over Time and U.S. News and World Report, just as CNN had it all over the networks, even with Peter Arnett in Baghdad. Looking back at the articles, though, they were for the most part straight news from both, while the competition went with their standardized "interpretation." Newsweak's come over to the dark side in that respect, just as has CNN. By this point, as most readers of Rantburg will notice, I don't read the weekly news mags anymore. I go to the source, which is the local papers when I can find them and they're comprehensible, and then to the wire services, which for all their faults still present a majority of articles based on fact, rather than opinion. Japanese Newsweek is prepared by a Japanese staff, and there aren't many Americans who're fluent enough in Japanese maintain tight editorial control. The staff, I'd guess, reflects the Japanese educational system, just as American Newsweek reflects the American system. The article would seem to point up the weaknesses of both. |
| Posted by: Fred 2005-05-22 18:52 |
| #3 Right on the money Phil_B!!! They tailor the suit to fit the customer! Thats what it is all about... the colour of money! The customer is always right... and if they are off a bit, then manipulate their taste until they bite and buy... the colour of money... |
| Posted by: Spomolet Chick1592 2005-05-22 18:35 |
| #2 The reality is that the primary market for global MSM brands is outside the USA and the West and they are progressively tailoring their news to fit the prejudices of those markets. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-05-22 18:32 |
| #1 Thats such an easy question! Wait a minute... its a trick question right? I won't hold it against you if you have a college degree pasted to your wall. The answer mein fruend ist the colour of money! Thats what side they are on! Always has been, always will! |
| Posted by: Spomolet Chick1592 2005-05-22 18:30 |