yeah we suck.

we're so far away from other stuff i suppose. we forget that there are other things going on.

well. that's not true. we know.

I'd say we don't. We just have people who don't care about the news and a news station that cares more for publicity than giving the news.

Who's copying whom? Two of ya lack originality. :p

By ya I mean the continents.

Maybe but I think theres more to it than that, it sort of feels like time magazine has done focus groups and decided the majority of the American audience cant handle some of the topics their publishing in international issues, like why the us cant save afganistan, american debt, the rise of china and Egypt revolution part 2.

Not that we cant handle, its that the majority doesn't give a damn. More political BS.

It's the same articles, just different covers. It's not about what Americans can handle, but what will grab their attention on the newsstand.

Some of those covers are very critical of america.

WarDrobeInSpareOom on Nov 29 '11 at 10:25pm
It's the same articles, just different covers. It's not about what Americans can handle, but what will grab their attention on the newsstand.

Bingo.

True. Americans aren't obsessed with tintin. Or is it tomtom?

Which is why it won't grab our attention.

I mean it will, but we won't buy.

It grabs everyone else's attention, on the other hand. AMERICA SUCKS! Wow, fucking original.

So you dont think this is in anyway a vaguely interesting comment on the American pyscology?

Show me magazines flying off the newsstands with very negative covers about their country and I'll think about it.

Actually, I'd think it's mostly just the repetitiveness that leads you not wanting to read. Oh America is fucking with things again? Nothin new, let's move along.

Go talk to China about objective journalism.

yeah fuck Tintin!

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601111107,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110919,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110912,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110905,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110829,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110822,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110815,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110725,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110718,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110711,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110704,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110620,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110606,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110530,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110523,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601110516,00.html

ok I'm done with this part

Time does do articles that are critical of the United States.

Not all of us stick our heads in the ground with our thumbs up our asses. :^)

i think THIS one is the most important because the cover was created by our very own laserbread.

He made the invisible Dalai Lama?! :^O

I apologize if my previous comment was a little too far. I just get frustrated sometimes with the whole 'Americans are naive, etc.' talk that goes around.

You should apologize for throwing up a bunch of unclickable links. Are you an amateur?

; ) means you can't get mad at me

It would have been too much work and I don't think many would go through more than a few, if any.

I'm furious with everyone all the time.

Ryan, there is a field right next to where you type that inserts the html for you.

You are just a typical lazy American.

if you had to endure the constant stench of self hatred that exists in the states you would not be so quick to throw out the tired "ignorant americans" exhibit
those covers poll better to the over paid marketing specialists who try to keep worthless rags like TIME relevant.

I just browsed through the past year and a half of those covers, and here are my (unscientific) observations:


1. most of the time the covers are identical.

2. sometimes U.S. covers are different than International editions

3. sometimes 1 or 2 other editions are different from U.S./ the majority.

4. Sometimes a cover image not shared with the rest of the World is simply pushed back a week for a special issue.

5. There does appear to be a pattern of neglecting war or poverty images. Perhaps Americans are less likely to buy an issue with a disturbing image or, or one that's already been driven into their psyche. Information fatigue?

Simply displaying a biased list of certain weeks' issues does not prove a point. A proper analysis would look at how many covers differ, and more importantly what topics tend to get bumped from the cover.

Also, it would be really interesting to see if certain covers are associated with more readership, although it would be hard to measure and control for (alternate covers in different locations?) Is an article about African war refugees more likely to be read if it's behind a cute cover?

I hope some sociologist is looking into this!

ISABOA on Nov 30 '11 at 12:09am
if you had to endure the constant stench of self hatred that exists in the states you would not be so quick to throw out the tired "ignorant americans" exhibit
those covers poll better to the over paid marketing specialists who try to keep worthless rags like TIME relevant.

TRUF. I'm one of those whiny liberals and *I* get tired of the self hatred. America is amazing, even when it's turrible.



See?

I like you guys

Bio-bot 9000 on Nov 30 '11 at 12:11am
I just browsed through the past year and a half of those covers, and here are my (unscientific) observations:
1. most of the time the covers are identical.
2. sometimes U.S. covers are different than International editions
3. sometimes 1 or 2 other editions are different from U.S./ the majority.
4. Sometimes a cover image not shared with the rest of the World is simply pushed back a week for a special issue.
5. There does appear to be a pattern of neglecting war or poverty images.
Perhaps Americans are less likely to buy an issue with a disturbing image or, or one that's already been driven into their psyche.
Information fatigue?
Simply displaying a biased list of certain weeks' issues does not prove a point.
A proper analysis would look at how many covers differ, and more importantly what topics tend to get bumped from the cover.
Also, it would be really interesting to see if certain covers are associated with more readership, although it would be hard to measure and control for (alternate covers in different locations?)
Is an article about African war refugees more likely to be read if it's behind a cute cover?
I hope some sociologist is looking into this!

Well I just got schooled.

Also your talking to a guy from a country thats a has been, who's most stunning achievements started in the 18th century and changed the world (in many ways for the better) but also has to deal with the guilt of empire and slavery. Is part of a european union despite having a strong dislike for everyone on the continent but still acting as one of the three pillars propping it up.

Believe me we've got the self hatred thing down.

Also I dont think americans are ignorant.

Nice points, Sam.

I actually read that Anxiety cover issue at my grandmother's house over Thanksgiving. I wonder if she'd read it with the Egypt cover. I'll bet the demographics of readers/subscribers has at least some effect on cover choice.

Joe got me wondering how Time could still stay relevant, then I remembered waiting rooms and restrooms still exist. I can't imagine them not being there. That would be weird.

I think sadly the sameyness of the international editions is just as telling. We're not special for running a soft news feature on travel the same week America runs a soft news cover on gender. It's just lazy and obvious that the story was probably written in the American office anyway. It's not even Summer in the Southern hemisphere, so they have to cahnge the heading from "Summer journey" to "special journey." Lazy.

Anyway, the same stories probably ran in the American edition just not on the cover. You actually need to check the content. The cover issue is telling because it shows what Americans would rather buy (or what Time thinks Americans would rather buy) but I doubt the news is being censored.

Some of these covers are also running a US domestic news story like the election when international editions are running an international story.

Tumbl-zine: On Time Magazine and differing international story play

Does Time water down its story coverage in the U.S.? That’s a question which has been floating around the interwebs since yesterday, when the internet hivemind figured out that Time ran a soft feature in this week’s U.S. edition, while the rest of the world got a much more important story about Egypt. (Fellow Tumblr Jessica Binsch did a Storify breakdown of the online reaction.) Most of us can agree Time probably blew this cover choice. However, we’d like to offer another argument here: That the magazine is merely playing to different markets, rather than blatantly dumbing down its U.S. coverage. Our latest Tumbl-zine (it’s been a while, we know) breaks down the past year in Time covers, by region and type of content. Here’s what we found.

Clarification: Any cover in this list that didn’t run in the U.S. does not necessarily mean the story attached to the cover didn’t get played in the U.S. edition of the magazine. Any commentary is specifically in regards to the covers themselves, not the stories.

That's really interesting.