By Selwyn Duke
By now, everybody knows about the New Yorker magazine cover portraying Barack Obama in Moslem garb and his wife as a terrorist with a machine gun slung over her shoulder. The idea behind it was to satirize people on the right who may be characterizing the Obamas in such a light.
Personally, I think such an image would be more accurately labeled a caricature, as I suspect it reflects the Obamas’ hearts and souls. And I suppose that’s what many of those upset about the cover fear, that people such as myself would use it to further stigmatize Mr. and Mrs. Change, Unity and Hope. Well, I certainly would hope I could encourage people to change and exhibit unity in opposition to this socialist candidate.
On a different note, part of the reaction to the New Yorker cover is a great illustration of why the print media is dying. Some are worrying that the controversial image may cost the magazine readers, which means they’re getting things completely backwards. It is material such as this that attracts attention and captures readers; it doesn’t alienate them, generally speaking. If anyone would doubt this, he should ponder the health of talk radio. Why is it flourishing? Sure, it balances the leftist mainstream media, providing information that the latter’s shills suppress. But it’s also brash and controversial, qualities that titillate the mind and keep people coming back for more. In a word, it’s fun.
By the way, sardonic media depictions are nothing new; they were even present in colonial times. And if the print press wants to survive, it had better take a reality pill and learn that faint heart never won fair readership. The leftists within it are so often scared of their own shadow, and they seem oblivious to the fact that banal, plain vanilla commentary and imagery is a recipe for failure.
I’m not saying you should stir the pot gratuitously, mind you. Once you make the generation of controversy your number one priority, Truth is the casualty and you descend into Howard Stern status. Expressing the Truth is enough, as it often hurts and is naturally controversial in an age of lies. Of course, good luck finding even one major figure at a mainstream paper who believes in Truth.
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