Give me soft news or give me... well, just soft news.

Had enough of all the bad news going on in the world? Tired of thinking about that nasty war so far away and all the people dying?

Apparently the editors at Newsweek think you are. For the October 2nd edition of Newsweek this is the cover you'll see if you buy the magazine in the US.

The tag line for the article "In her new book, Annie Leibovitz, our most famous photographer, places celebs side by side with surprisingly personal images of love and loss. An exclusive."

With all that's going in in the world and across the US, Newsweek runs a cover of someone famous for photographing celebrities. Don't get me wrong, I think Annie Leibovitz is brilliant. She's an amazing photographer and has had an amazing career. But is this really the most important "news" of the week?

Turns out, only if you're in the US. On the other hand, if you are outside the US, Newsweek apparently knows that "real" news is what you are reading NEWSweek for. The Newsweek cover of October 2nd for magazines sold outside the US has this extremely disturbing photo of an Afghan fighter ready to launch a rocket that highlights a story about the real danger of losing the "War on Terror" in Afghanistan.

Michelle Pilecki on Eat The Press explains that "Celebrity covers nearly always sell far more than mere news... the actual differences in sales can be huge. And a foreign news story, in particular, is the kiss of death for newsstand sales, regardless of how important the story is."

It's appalling to think that not only has Bush's war left the vast majority of Americans untouched (only a tiny percentage of the population actually serve in the armed forces, and my lifestyle certainly hasn't change, has yours?), but magazine editors have realized we won't even buy their magazines to read about the cost and dangers of this war.