Context Sensitive

I was browsing CNN.com this afternoon and saw that both the Obama and McCain campaigns had spoken out about a controversial New Yorker cover. The cover, pictured at left, shows the Obamas fist-bumping while dressed like militants, with a US flag in the fireplace. Both campaigns have condemned the cover as tasteless and offensive. And it sure looks that way.

The New Yorker responded that the cover was intended as satire. Their intention was to mock the perception of Obama that the right-wing propaganda machine is trying to create. Well why didn't you say so? Suddenly that cover is pretty darn funny. Too bad that no one at the New Yorker thought a caption might add some MUCH needed context to the image.

It just seems hard to believe that a group of editors could have that cartoon sitting on their desktops for a month and not one of them thought, ever so briefly, "You know what? The average American may not get this without a witty caption or one-liner."

Is the magazine publishing industry in such dire straights that these screwups are becoming commonplace? Let's ask the Golfweek editors who let fly with a noose on their cover after Kelly Tilghman's "lynching" remark. I know that it's tough selling glossy paper in a digital world. But that's no excuse for this type of mistake.