The New York Post dishes a bit of undeserved snark to Jonathan Newhouse for prudently turning down an invitation to start a Vogue in the Middle East. Muslim fundamentalists would make PETA look like the Anna Wintour Fan Club — and they’re armed and dangerous.
You’d think the Post — of all publications — would be cheering Newhouse on. Instead:
But instead of politely saying no, Newhouse channeled the magazine’s traditional holier-than-thou attitude as he snottily rattled off a litany of reasons why the company had no interest in sticking its nose into the troubled region.
Said Newhouse about the troubling segments of the Middle East:
“This element rejects freedom of expression, equality for women and expression of sexuality, to name three values associated with our publication,” he continued. “And this militant element is capable of aggressive opposition, even violence, to attain its goals. At its most extreme, this militant element is capable of murder.”
Howard Stern has long said that the one thing that would calm down the Middle East is porn. All those angry young men, he reasons, wouldn’t be so angry anymore.
(Disclosure: I worked for the Newhouses.)
