Tag Archives: atlantic wire

Controversy over Time Magazine cover showing mutilated Afghan woman

The Atlantic Wire site has published a series of different points of view about this week’s Time Magazine cover, which shows a harrowing image of an 18-year-old Afghan woman who has had her nose and ears cut off by the Taliban.

Under the headline “What Happens if We Leave Afghanistan”, the magazine’s picture caption reports that the woman was attacked for having tried to flee from “abusive in-laws”.

The Wire asks if Time Magazine is right to publish the cover, with answers first quoted from managing editor Richard Stengel discussing the reasons for their decision.

I thought long and hard about whether to put this image on the cover of Time (…) But bad things do happen to people, and it is part of our job to confront and explain them. In the end, I felt that the image is a window into the reality of what is happening — and what can happen — in a war that affects and involves all of us. I would rather confront readers with the Taliban’s treatment of women than ignore it. I would rather people know that reality as they make up their minds about what the U.S. and its allies should do in Afghanistan.

The article then moves to comments from a range of other publications, some who say the cover is “good journalism” while others feel it “oversimplifies war”.

See the full post here…

Atlantic Wire: a new comment aggregation site

The 153 year old US publication, the Atlantic, this week introduced a new standalone site composed of aggregated material: the Atlantic Wire.

Content by columnists and commentators leading the national dialogue will be incorporated into one feed and site, an introductory post said.

“Our team – editors, reporters, researchers, data-crunchers -systematically tracks hundreds of opinion-makers from newspapers, web sites, television, radio, and magazines.”

The post lays out the four parts of the Wire site:

  • Breaking Opinions: op-eds, blog entries, and other commentary.
  • Features: Various categories including ‘Spatwatch’, ‘Strange Bedfellows’, ‘Cliché Watch’, and ‘Who Won the Day’.
  • The Ticker: Twitter style updates, in 140 characters or less.
  • The Atlantic 50: A list of the most influential columnists and commentators, as decided by the Wire.

Introductory post at this link…