Newsweek has been making a name for itself with a string of newly salacious cover images, but not all the provocative ideas end up in print, as editor Tina Brown explained in a video on Newsweek's Tumblr. In the wake of Trayvon Martin's shooting, after President Obama said, "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Brown says they designed a cover featuring the president in a hoodie, but didn't run it. It's interesting to hear just where the woman who put a gay halo over Obama's head, a crazy glint in Michele Bachmann's eye, and a hipster jacket on Jesus's shoulder actually draws the line. Brown explains: 

And I had to ask myself: how would I feel if this image was used in some kind of hate speech context? How would I feel if this image of the president in a hoodie wasn't taken to be an ironic statement about what he himself had said, but was in fact appearing on the T-Shirts of white supremacists? And I thought it was dangerous, so I didn't do it. But I had a lot of agony about it, because I thought it was a great cover.

Having written and received comments here about Newsweek's Obama cover that did see the light of day, the one with the "First Gay President" headline with a rainbow halo over his head, we can say her fears that an image might provoke anger are well founded. Watch her talk about the non-cover over at Newsweek's Tumblr. 

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at erandall at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.