Newsweek puts Martha Stewart's head on Model's body for cover

I've heard and seen this before with women's fashion magazines, but for a news magazine?

Wow, a new low, IMO

http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0303/4250158_200X150.jpg

http://blogs.csmonitor.com/cooks_capitol/2005/03/

Quote:

---

It is something many of us who have hit middle age would appreciate: a photograph where our head sits on a younger, trimmer body.

Newsweek bestowed this photographic favor on domestic diva Martha Stewart who graces the cover of the magazine’s March 7 issue. When Newsweek hit newsstands, Ms. Stewart was still in prison. But on the cover there she was, smiling radiantly, dressed preppily, her svelte body framed by gold curtains.

Lynn Staley, assistant managing editor of Newsweek, told National Public Radio that, “It was not our intention to deceive; it was our intention to amuse.”

Newsweek disclosed that the cover was a photo illustration – or composite – on page 3 of the magazine in a credit line. It’s an area of the magazine normally of interest only to the cover photographer’s mother.

When NPR asked if she had any regrets, Newsweek’s Ms. Staley said, “I think that, you know, we have to be a little careful. I mean, maybe the worst thing I could say is that we were possibly just a little too successful here.”

Actually, the worst thing that could be said was the news business needs to be especially careful not to look like it plays fast and loose with the truth – photographic or otherwise. Inside the journalism fraternity we have our own rules and understandings. In that context, labeling the cover a “photo illustration” removes any question that Newsweek was trying to lie.

But clearly many readers were misled. The Monitor’s own policy on computerized photo editing specifies that, “Everything in the Monitor must be precisely what it appears to be. Photographs that have been altered for illustration purposes should be clearly labeled.”

Newspaper conventions differ from those of magazines. But it would have been better for Newsweek to have disclosed on the cover that what readers were seeing was an altered picture of the soon to be sprung Martha.

Of course, most of the pictures we see of the famous are altered in another way, with various surgical enhancements and reductions. If you watched last Sunday’s Academy Awards, you got an eyeful of that.

Those of us who are plunging through life without surgically improved bodies can’t fail to appreciate what modern photographic editing makes possible. As I work at my computer munching on a Hershey bar, it’s nice to know that in the next Cook family portrait, my thinning white hair and multiple chins can be sitting atop Brad Pitt’s body.

---

Yeah, but Martha wasn't exactly available for cover photo shoots in the 6 months before her release from prison. There was a need to improvise. If the cover story had been about how she lost weight or adopted a new look, then the cover would be misleading. The story was about renewal and the cover symbolized a re-emergence into society. So, there is no stain on Newsweek's journalistic integrity here.

My daughter said kids at school wore t-shirts that said "Free Martha" on them with a head shot of her.

:rolleyes:

Actually I would disagree.

The news mags have always regarded themselves as a step above and bastions of integrity in news circles, as one of the pinnacles in journalism as far as reporters and editors go.

I think this is yet another erosion of what little credibility the mainstream media has left.

Sad really, news mags and newspapers are hemorrhaging readings, yet instead of working on shoring up that problem, they keep digging their own graves. Won't be long until all that remains is media funded by those who have a set agenda, whether it be liberal, conservative, libertarian or authoritarian, to pass along. We're coming closer and closer to that every day.

Reminds me of a joke I heard, can't remember who told it, but it went "Well, we've got Kobe and OJ walking around free, and the only woman in the country who will cook, clean, and work in the yard in jail"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RFS62

Reminds me of a joke I heard, can't remember who told it, but it went "Well, we've got Kobe and OJ walking around free, and the only woman in the country who will cook, clean, and work in the yard in jail"

---

Tim Allen

Thank goodness for this all-important story... Martha released from prison. I don't think this country has had such big news since good ol' Neil Armstrong set foot on the thing that orbits our planet. Everytime I change the TV channel there seems to be someone else talking about this. Seems as though this country needs another celeb put in jail for 5-6 months... so we can have something else to keep us entertained.

Newsweek, Time, U.S. News & World Report... I have tried them all at one time or another. They are all the same garbage to me. I have tried zero of them for quite some time now. From the looks of the 1st thread here, nothing has changed from the old days.

Quote:

---

Lynn Staley, assistant managing editor of Newsweek, told National Public Radio that, “It was not our intention to deceive; it was our intention to amuse.”

---

Hmmmm... so why should I trust any other story or photo in your mag? Is it trustworthy or just for amusement? Do I have to check the tiny print on page 3 for each and every story/photo?

Newsweek could have used an illustration, but instead opted for a doctored photo on the cover, leaving to the fine print the admission that the photo was fake.
Maybe Newsweek should have just taken one the photos of the swimsuit models in the recent issue of Sports Illustrated, put Martha's head on the model's body, and used that as the cover "photo."

They should have just put a picture of Jennifer Love Hewitt on the cover with the headline "This isn't Martha, who just got out of the slammer"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RFS62

They should have just put a picture of Jennifer Love Hewitt on the cover with the headline "This isn't Martha, who just got out of the slammer"

---

Newsweek would've probably sold more copies of that issue if it had followed RFS62's suggestion.

And that suggestion would have given people nightmares for months