Newsweek HackJob Even Enrages NOW

As I wrote earlier this week, the news media has lost its collective mind. It has become so bad that even the liberal women's group NOW (National Organization for Women) has come to the support of Michelle Bachman!  It is about time that thinking people start holding the media to the standard they should be following.

Here is the article:

'Journalism' so outrageous, even NOW supports Bachmann

By Bobby Eberle August 11, 2011 7:13 am  I can't believe it! After so many incidents involving Sarah Palin and other conservative women regarding hit-pieces by so-called "journalists," the National Organization for Women (NOW) has stepped forward and said, "Enough is enough." What pushed them to the edge? It turns out that Newsweek magazine did a cover story on presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann. The title of the story is "The Queen of Rage." Yep... and the story gets worse from there.

As reported by The Daily Caller, perhaps Newsweek thought that their blatant effort to tear down another conservative woman would go unnoticed (except by the nonthinking audience they are trying to influence), but anyone with half a brain can see that the Newsweek article is not journalism, but rather biased activism in support of the liberal agenda.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) spoke out against Newsweek's most recent cover, which features an extreme close-up of Michele Bachmann and the title "The Queen of Rage."

"It's sexist," NOW president Terry O'Neill told TheDC. "Casting her in that expression and then adding 'The Queen of Rage' I think [it is]. Gloria Steinem has a very simple test: If this were done to a man or would it ever be done to a man - has it ever been done to a man? Surely this has never been done to a man."

"Who has ever called a man 'The King of Rage?' Basically what Newsweek magazine - and this is important, what Newsweek magazine, not a blog, Newsweek magazine - what they are saying of a woman who is a serious contender for President of the United States of America...They are basically casting her as a nut job," O'Neill said. "The 'Queen of Rage' is something you apply to wrestlers or somebody who is crazy. They didn't even do this to Howard Dean when he had his famous scream."

As everyone knows, NOW represents the antithesis of conservative thought. Everything a conservative stands for, NOW takes the other side. Even though they are supposed to represent all women, media attacks on conservative women have often been met with silence by the organization. This time, they took a stand.

"Of course my job is to defeat Michele Bachmann and I intend to do so. But good women will not run for office if Newsweek magazine can do this to such a prominent politician and get away with it," O'Neill said.

In a column on National Review Online, writer and part-time photographer Andrew Cline gives his take on the Newsweek cover:

First, the lighting is harsh and uneven, more like a driver's license photo than a professional portrait. Her hair casts a shadow over her forehead, indicating poor positioning of the flash on the photographer's right. Her expression is unnatural, something good portrait photographers try to avoid not only because it looks bad, but also because it doesn't give the viewer any insight into the subject. Really good portrait photography reveals the subject's personality, which is why the best portrait photographers spend a lot of time making their subjects feel relaxed and comfortable. You can't capture someone's personality if she's nervous, unready, uncomfortable, or distracted. Bachmann appears all of those in that photo. On top of that, she's awkwardly posed, as if she happened to be walking by and suddenly looked up. It looks like a test shot, not a final portrait. Forget a national news magazine; that photo wouldn't make the cut in some smaller, regional publications based on its technical flaws alone. So how did it make the cover of Newsweek?

Cline does not blame photographer Christopher Buck, saying Buck is "highly talented and has produced some outstanding portraits." In reviewing the other photos contained in the Newsweek article, Cline notes, "Going over his other Bachmann photos released by Newsweek, I see he got a very nice shot that would have made an excellent cover photo. In it, Bachmann has her hands clasped together as if in prayer, which surely would have drawn its own criticism, but she doesn't look "crazy" or menacing or bug-eyed. She looks normal and serious, and the portrait is well-posed and well-lit."

Thus, the editors at Newsweek picked exactly the photo they wanted for the cover with the express motivation of painting Bachmann in a bad light, as if calling her the "Queen of Rage" wasn't bad enough!

Newsweek stands by its choice of cover photo. In a statement, Newsweek editor in chief Tina Brown said, "Michele Bachmann's intensity is galvanizing voters in Iowa right now and Newsweek's cover captures that." Wow! Seriously? That picture was supposed to convey intensity?

Is it any wonder that liberal media is taking a hit in the wallet? Does anyone actually read Newsweek any more? What is frustrating is that there are still too many Americans that don't catch on. Whether you tend to be a conservative or tend to be a liberal, the news should be the news. It has totally changed, and the Newsweek story proves that it has changed for the worse.