As frequent readers of this blog know, Mitch often shares his thoughts on TIME’s latets journalistic (and not-so-journalistic) offerings. But ignore the content of the magazine for a moment and consider its cover.
NewsBusters shows that TIME has featured Obama on its cover seven times since the November election. An eighth time the editors put Michelle on there.
Obama’s frequent presence on the cover has arrested the attention of none other than Jon Stewart of the Late Show:
The frequent cover appearances led even Jon Stewart, a Bush-hater who was thrilled by Obama’s election, to quip Thursday night on his Comedy Central show: ?Time magazine is like O magazine, like Obama has to be on the cover — it is like Oprah magazine. I think he’s been on like thirty times this year.?
An e-mail blast from NewsBusters also points out that Clinton was “idolized” on TIME’s cover, too, but recent Republican presidents haven’t gotten nearly the same attention:
Indeed, looking at the covers from when [Reagan, Bush Senior, and G.W.] won the presidency through early August of their first year in office, Reagan and the two Bushes combined were only featured seven times ? and it would have been only six if Reagan hadn?t been shot by an attempted assassin.
Incoming First Lady Barbara Bush (?The Silver Fox?) also made the cover in January 1989, but neither Nancy Reagan nor Laura Bush were featured.
