The New Yorker

==== 2008 Obama cover satire and controversy ====
[[File:New Yorker magazine Politics of Fear.png|thumb|right|Barry Blitt's cover from the July 21, 2008, issue of ''The New Yorker'']]
"The Politics of Fear", a cartoon by [[Barry Blitt]] featured on the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue, depicts then presumptive Democratic [[2008 United States presidential election|presidential]] nominee [[Barack Obama]] in the [[turban]] and [[shalwar kameez]] typical of many [[Muslim]]s, [[fist bump]]ing with his wife, [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]], portrayed with an [[Afro]] and wearing [[Military camouflage|camouflage]] trousers with an [[assault rifle]] slung over her back. They are standing in the [[Oval Office]], with a portrait of [[Osama bin Laden]] hanging on the wall and an American [[Flag desecration|flag burning]] in the fireplace in the background.<ref>{{Cite news |last=The Associated Press |date=July 14, 2008 |title=New Yorker cover stirs controversy |publisher=Canoe.ca |url=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2008/07/14/6151776-ap.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20080715174935/http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2008/07/14/6151776-ap.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 15, 2008 |access-date=July 14, 2008 }}</ref>

Many ''New Yorker'' readers saw the image as a lampoon of "The Politics of Fear", as was its title. Some Obama supporters, as well as his presumptive Republican opponent, [[John McCain]], accused the magazine of publishing an incendiary cartoon whose irony could be lost on some readers. Editor David Remnick felt the image's obvious excesses rebuffed the concern that it could be misunderstood, even by those unfamiliar with the magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 19, 2008 |title=Was it satire? |url=http://www.thespec.com/opinion/article/143986--was-it-satire |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717031905/http://www.thespec.com/opinion/article/143986--was-it-satire |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |newspaper=[[The Hamilton Spectator]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 15, 2008 |title=Barack Obama New Yorker Cover Branded Tasteless |url=http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/world/266893/barack-obama-new-yorker-cover-branded-tasteless.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724122550/http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/world/266893/barack-obama-new-yorker-cover-branded-tasteless.html |archive-date=July 24, 2011 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |website=[[Marie Claire]]}}</ref> "The intent of the cover", he said, "is to satirize the vicious and racist attacks and rumors and misconceptions about the Obamas that have been floating around in the [[blogosphere]] and are reflected in public opinion polls. What we set out to do was to throw all these images together, which are all over the top and to shine a kind of harsh light on them, to satirize them."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tapper |first=Jake |author-link=Jake Tapper |date=July 14, 2008 |title=New Yorker Editor David Remnick Talks to ABC News About Cover Controversy |url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/new-yorker-edit.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522022349/http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/new-yorker-edit.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |website=[[ABC News]]}}</ref>

In an interview on ''[[Larry King Live]]'' shortly after the magazine issue began circulating, Obama said, "Well, I know it was ''The New Yorker''{{'}}s attempt at satire... I don't think they were entirely successful with it". Obama also pointed to his own efforts to debunk the allegations the cover depicted through a website his campaign set up, saying that the allegations were "actually an insult against Muslim-Americans".<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 16, 2008 |title=Democrats' bus heads South to sign up new voters |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/07/16/democrats_bus_heads_south_to_sign_up_new_voters/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113012428/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/07/16/democrats_bus_heads_south_to_sign_up_new_voters/ |archive-date=January 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tapper |first=Jake |date=July 13, 2008 |title=Obama Camp Hammers New 'Ironic' New Yorker Cover Depicting Conspiracists' Nightmare of Real Obamas |url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/new-ironic-new.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522022401/http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/new-ironic-new.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |website=Political Punch |publisher=[[ABC News]]}}</ref>

Later that week, ''[[The Daily Show]]''{{'}}s [[Jon Stewart]] continued ''The New Yorker'' cover's argument about Obama stereotypes with a piece showcasing a montage of clips containing such stereotypes culled from various legitimate news sources.<ref>[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/twlbqc/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-obama-cartoon "Obama Cartoon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202035441/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/twlbqc/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-obama-cartoon |date=February 2, 2017 }}, ''The Daily Show'', July 15, 2008.</ref> Stewart and [[Stephen Colbert]] parodied ''The New Yorker''<nowiki/>'s Obama cover on the October 3, 2008, cover of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' magazine, with Stewart as Barack and Colbert as Michelle, photographed for the magazine in New York City on September 18.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wolk |first=Josh |date=September 30, 2008 |title=''Entertainment Weekly'' October 3, 2008, Issue #1014 cover |url=https://ew.com/ew/inside/issue/0,,ewTax:1014,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427075552/http://www.ew.com/ew/inside/issue/0%2C%2CewTax%3A1014%2C00.html |archive-date=April 27, 2009 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}</ref>

''New Yorker'' covers are sometimes unrelated to the contents of the magazine or only tangentially related. The article about Obama in the July 21, 2008, issue did not discuss the attacks and rumors but rather Obama's political career. The magazine later endorsed Obama for president.

This parody was most likely inspired by [[Fox News]] host [[E. D. Hill]]'s paraphrasing of an anonymous internet comment in asking whether a gesture made by Obama and his wife Michelle was a "terrorist fist jab".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beam |first=Christopher |date=July 14, 2008 |title=The 'Terrorist Fist Jab' and Me |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2195347/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091227041719/http://www.slate.com/id/2195347 |archive-date=December 27, 2009 |access-date=January 23, 2010 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Fox News anchor calls the Obamas' fist pound 'a terrorist fist jab' |url=http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/09/fox-news-anchor-calls-the-obamas-fist-pound-a-terrorist-fist-jab/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610230043/http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/09/fox-news-anchor-calls-the-obamas-fist-pound-a-terrorist-fist-jab/ |archive-date=June 10, 2008 |access-date=June 10, 2008 |website=[[Think Progress]]}}</ref> Later, Hill's contract was not renewed.<ref>[https://huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/10/fox-news-changes-terroris_n_106306.html "Fox News Changes: 'Terrorist Fist Jab' Anchor E.D. Hill Loses Her Show, Laura Ingraham In At 5PM"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723141246/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/10/fox-news-changes-terroris_n_106306.html |date=July 23, 2018 }}, ''Huffington Post'', June 18, 2008.</ref>