Michelle Obama cover hastens Newsweek's demise

• NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- "Vogue's March cover story on Michelle Obama

called her "The First Lady the World's Been Waiting For." No doubt she's been embraced by the media world, appearing on cover after cover, from Us Weekly to Newsweek.

• But when it comes to sales, Ms. Obama may not yet be general-interest magazines' new Princess Diana, who regularly helped the industry sell more copies at newsstands.

A Michelle Obama cover doesn't hurt a general-interest magazine, the numbers suggest, but it doesn't produce more than an occasional lift either.

• New York magazine's March 23 issue, with a cover story about "The Power of Michelle Obama," looks like it produced
  

• "average" sales, New York said April 3, although the numbers remain subject to change."...

ESPECIALLY WEAK SALES...NEWSWEEK, THE SELF DESCRIBED THOUGHT LEADER is REJECTED BY PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE BRAINS:

• (Ad Age): "Then there are a few covers with relatively weak sales.
  
• Newsweek's Dec. 1 cover story on "The Meaning of Michelle," using a black-and-white photo, only sold 90,000 copies on newsstands,
  

• 15% below its average for the second half of last year.
  

More's October issue featuring a cover story on "Michelle Obama at 44" sold just 154,000 copies on newsstands,

• 23% below the second-half average." ...
  

via Rush Limbaugh radio show

• PROVING THE MEDIA ISN'T FOOLING THE PUBLIC WITH THEIR RIDICULOUS ADULATION OF THIS UNREMARKABLE WOMAN (to be as polite as possible). sm