Tuesday, July 29, 2008

More on the 'Cover Boys'... and why I've given up running

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the U.S. presidential candidates' appearances on magazine covers (See Cover Boys). A recent Romenesko post pointed me to a New York Post article that helps explain Obama's popularity (beyond journalists going ga-ga over him).

From the New York Post:

Love him or hate him, Obama covers seem to be selling better than celebrities or rock stars.

And in most cases, his covers are selling better than those that feature his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain.

Said a spokeswoman for Time, "Of our five covers featuring Obama and/or Hillary [Clinton] . . . this year, they either sold significantly above average or above average. And the McCain cover this year sold just below average."...

For Us Weekly, which is owned by Obama supporter Jann Wenner, the cover featuring Obama and his wife sold a lot better than the average celebrity cover, with estimated newsstand sales between 900,000 and 1 million, far above the magazine's typical week of selling 800,000 copies.

(As an aside, Romenesko is a must-read blog for journalists and those interested in the media industry. A warning though: many of the posts of late are a bit depressing with their focus on newsroom layoffs and declining newspaper circulation.)

In other, more personal news, I gave up running this week because of Hong Kong's pollution. The South China Morning Post called Monday "the blackest day yet for air pollution." A haze has been sitting over the city for the last few days. I've never seen anything like this. And apparently, it's even worse in Beijing. Poor Olympic athletes.

2 comments:

David Lat said...

Oh, sorry to hear about the running! We'll have to run together when you get back up here. It's fun to go around the southern tip of Manhattan:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2136405

Unknown said...

Kashmir not running....what is that some kind of new oxymoron? Agreed though, save those lungs so you can run all about the big apple and breathe its fresh air.