Newsweek is an international magazine with international edition — four, to be exact: U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America. It's natural that sometimes these wildly diverse regions would have different content, and covers. Sometimes, though, the cover choices are an eyebrow raise — especially when the U.S. version differs from the rest of the world. Like it does this week — again — with cover story "Men and Depression: A Shadowy Struggle" — a serious topic, to be sure, but still, the only cover not running with "Nobody's Poodle", an exclusive profile of Tony Blair - according to the article, the fruits of London Bureau Chief Stryker McGuire's "extraordinary access" to Blair over the past two months as his term winds down (found in the US edition on page 34 - but only if you look, since it's wasn't one of two other stories touted on the cover).
Covers and cover stories are a matter of news judgment, and again, depression is a serious topic which should fairly be explored. However, Newsweek's news judgment has been questioned before, specifically in October when the international editions all ran a cover called "Losing Afghanistan" about the resurgence of the Taliban. The American cover? An exclusive cover shot and story on Annie Leibovitz entitled "My Life In Pictures" (but not, you may recall, in Sapphistry, since that part of her life was only delicately alluded to).
Newsweek spokeswoman Jan Angilella pointed out that Newsweek addresses issues of domestic and international importance, and noted that here, the difference was split: "Tony Blair is an international figure and he's an international story. Hence we put him on the cover of all of our overseas issues." (Angilella did note that recent covers had included last week's history of the US and Iran, "Black Hawk Down" (Feb. 5th) and "The Next Jihadists," interspersed, of course, with domestic issues like Menopause (Jan 15th) and coverage of Britney Spears and Paris with the "Girls Gone Wild" cover of two weeks ago. We can all be relieved, at least, that Tony Blair wasn't bumped for Anna Nicole Smith).
Editorial judgment is what it is, and like any magazine, newsweekly or otherwise, the call is Newsweek to make. However, when every edition of Newsweek 'round the world is different from the one at home, it's worth at least wondering why. It may not be be a desexualized celebrity photographer supplanting a scary growing jihad in Afghanistan, but still, it sets the U.S. apart from the rest of the world and draws a distinction between U.S. readers and their growing counterparts. Since Newsweek and Newsweek International are both housed in the same New York office, it's worth wondering, too, what makes them different, and what makes them see us differently, too.
Related:
All The News Our Tiny Minds Can Manage [The Nation]
The Cover Story That Newsweek Doesn't Want to Sell to America [Michelle Pilecki, HuffPo]
Jon Stewart Rips Newsweek: Not Enough Afghanistan, Vaginas [ETP]
