Is Us Weekly showing its bias?
This week's issue of the celebrity magazine features a photo of John McCain's vice presidential running mate holding baby Trig with the screaming headline: "John McCain's Vice President Sarah Palin: Babies, Lies & Scandal."
The magazine, founded by New York Times Company and owned by Obama campaign contributor Jann Wenner, rips Palin with cover teasers that publicize her teen daughter's pregnancy, an alleged firing of Palin's sister's ex-husband and promises "new embarrassing surprises." The website URL for the Palin story reads, "sarah-palin-very-difficult-to-work-with."
The September feature states:
Mom-of-five Palin is antiabortion (even in cases of rape) and opposed to sex-education classes (she believes in abstinence instruction for teens).
In the wake of the announcement about Bristol, questions have begun to arise about the governor's candor and McCain's judgment (The New York Times reported that McCain's camp vetted Palin only the day before her selection was announced.
"It's conceivable a 17-year-old girl just screwed the GOP," Democratic strategist George Lakoff tells Us Weekly.
A June issue of the same celebrity magazine featured Barack and Michelle Obama embracing on the cover with the headline, "Michelle Obama: Why Barack Loves Her." The teaser reads, "She shops at Target, loved 'Sex in the City' and never misses the girls' recitals. The untold romance between a down-to-earth mom and the man who calls her 'my rock.'" The website URL states, "exclusive-barack-obama-michelle-is-an-extraordinary-mother."
The Obama issue focused on Michelle Obama's "strong sense of family" and genuine personality.
According to a Daily Standard report, Wenner has contributed $5,300 to the Obama campaign since 2007. In a March Rolling Stone article, he praised the senator: "[A]long comes Barack Obama, with the kinds of gifts that appear in politics but once every few generations. There is a sense of dignity, even majesty, about him, and underneath that ease lies a resolute discipline. It's not just that he is eloquent – with that ability to speak both to you and to speak for you – it's that he has a quality of thinking and intellectual and emotional honesty that is extraordinary."
Bloggers have unleashed a firestorm of criticism against Us Weekly for its Palin cover. The following are a few comments on the magazine's website:
- Wow, what a disgusting cover. You won't find this trashy magazine in my house ever again
- This Magazine is garbage. … [W]hy don't you talk to the 80% of Alaska who approves of Sarah. But keep up the good work of making up lies and the undecided voter that I was will support Mccain/Palin to the end. Thanks for making up my mind.
- Why not a story on Bho's black father leaving him when he was a baby or how Bho supports killing innocent babies! Scumbags!
- It is extremely easy, when comparing the "Obama" cover and the "Palin" cover, to see that your magazine is in the tank for Obama, just as the rest of the media is in it for Obama. You are going after Palin's family with impunity while turning a blind eye to Obama's sketchy past and associations. I find it completely dis-hearting and disgusting.
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