The following was posted on XX Factor yesterday by Abby Callard.
On Wednesday, Fox News aired a segment in which it berated Newsweek for not retouching a photo of Sarah Palin that ran on its Oct. 13 cover. (You can see a good close-up here.)
The photo is clearly untouched: stray eyebrow hair, large pores, and wrinkles are all visible on her face. The headline reads "She's One of The Folks (And that's the problem)." But the outrage isn't about the headline at all; it's about the photo. When did untouched become "unfair," as a Republican media consultant claims during the segment? And when did it become a requirement to retouch photos in news magazines rather than fashion ones?
The consultant went on to claim that the photo was "mortifying." Maybe the photo is a little unflattering--who can expect to look great that close up--but mortifying? It's also ridiculous that the three women on the segment prefaced their statements by some form of "Sarah Palin is a beautiful woman." We get it.
If I were Palin, I would upset. Not at the magazine, but at these women who can only talk about her as a "beautiful woman."
And this isn't sexist treatment?
1 comment:
Did you actually watch the segment or do you just read liberal columns and take them for face value?
Fox News aired the segment not "berating Newsweek" but giving air time to both sides of the argument - one who thought the photo was mortifying and another who thought the photo was fair.
The commentators, both for and against the photo, were not talking about Palin ONLY as a "beautiful woman". The POINT of the segment was to point out (by one side) that Newsweek, an elitist and liberal magazine, published an obviously unflattering photo of Palin on the cover AFTER having published several very flattering photos of Obama. Check out the June 2 cover where obama looks all dreamy and visionary, practically with a halo over his head, or the July 21 cover where he's thoughtfully in prayer or the Sept 1 cover where he looks all perfect and presidential with Biden next to him looking the same.
There was a reason they used that close up, unflattering photo. It suited their bias. The headline reads, "She's one of the folks, and that's the problem". The magazine was making a point. Do you honestly think Newsweek never retouches photos? It's common practice in the magazine world, fashion or otherwise. They didn't in this case to prove their point. I hope all those "folks" out there have cancelled their subscriptions.
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