TIME and Obama: Time's Tiger Beat Treatment

Time's Obama Cover Stories
Time's TigerBeat Treatment




"He's Dreamy!"

Time's Obamamania:
Obama Averages a Cover Story Roughly Every 4 Weeks
Twice in 3 days in October

---

Times Explains their Coverage as "Unquenchable thirst"



Barack Obama has appeared on the cover of Time roughly every 4 weeks during the last ten months.

Is Time biased?

No way!

Just ask them.

Much of the coverage has a simple explanation: the press is biased — toward the most commercial narrative. Barack Obama is a political newcomer, the first African-American nominee of a major party, and he defeated the first serious female candidate, who happened to be married to the previous sitting President. The popular demand for information and analysis about Obama's rise has been, for most of the campaign, unquenchable.
--Time: McCain's Bias Claim: Truth or Tactic?

Obama's constant presence as a TIME cover story subject?

He's more commercial.

TIME would know all about what sells. In the last ten years, TIME has lost nearly three-quarters of a million subscribers.

Time's Obama covers in the last forty-two weeks.





















Not once in all of these cover stories, has TIME addressed the Obama campaign's refusal to release medical, college, university and other records to the public.

Apparently, that's not "commercial". TIME not only gives Barack Obama the "TigerBeat Treatment", he's also the recipient of TIME's John Edwards policy of not covering news that's not beneficial to the campaign's interests.

Readers will not find anything about Barack Obama's records, but maybe TIME will reveal the candidate's favorite color.




To underscore their even-handed treatment of national news, TIME ran this cover last week of the Republicans, titled, "What a mess".




John McCain?

He's gotten three covers--if you include the one he shared with Obama.


TIME`appears to be banking that their "We Heart Obama" strategy will stop their sliding circulation, their marginal credibility on political issues and their layoffs.

But, if it doesn't--which is unlikely--they can always write about Britney, Paris and Clay Aiken.

TigerBeat, beware.


by Mondo Frazier
images: TIME archives; dbkp file