Charles Kaiser, who used to edit media coverage at NEWSWEEK, has posted a take-down of this week's cover over at the Columbia Journalism review. After reading it, I'd love your thoughts below on whether you thought the coverage was fair. In short, do you think we're supporting torture?
Here's an excerpt of Kaiser's piece:
Those of us outside this magic minority have been cataloging the
huge questions facing Barack Obama. Will his economic stimulus plan be
enough to jump start a devastated economy? Will he keep his promise to
make a prompt exit from Iraq? Will he come to his senses and reverse
his disastrous campaign pledge to add tens of thousands of new combat
troops to the quagmire of Afghanistan? How quickly will he close
Guantánamo? And finally–and to many of us, most importantly—will his
oft-repeated promise to end American torture to restore us to the
community of civilized nations become a resounding passage in his
Inaugural Address?
However, in Jon Meacham’s judgment, none of those questions matters as much as the one he has placed on the cover of the magazine sitting on thousands of news stands across America this morning. That question is: “What Would Dick Do?”
There you go. Have at it.