In the news: This month, a cover featuring Vice President Kamala Harris drew such widespread criticism online that the magazine is now reissuing with an alternate cover.

Last month, Vogue magazine found itself in the hot seat for its February 2021 cover featuring Vice President Kamala Harris. Pundits and designers alike slammed the cover for its washed-out photo quality and casual tone. In response, Vogue has announced that it will run a new version of the issue with an alternate photo option. Oscar Holland of CNN writes, “The widely preferred alternative cover, which features Vice President–elect in a light blue suit against a gold background, was originally created for the magazine's digital edition, but will now appear in a limited print run, Vogue announced Tuesday.”

This is the latest in a series of controversies for magazine brands run by Anna Wintour, who, according to Holland, “later defended the choice, saying that the magazine's creative team had felt that the casual look was the right for the current climate.” To make matters worse, Holland reports that, per an anonymous source, “Harris' team had initially believed the blue and gold cover, which attracted praise online, would appear on the print edition.” Read more here and here.

Also Notable

Confronting Racism in the Newsroom, Past and Present

This week, the Columbia Journalism Review explores how news outlets should address racism in their pasts. Many have apologized, but Alexandria Neason of CJR.org notes that this is not enough. She makes a case study of the North Carolina News & Observer’s historic attempts to suppress Black voters. Progress has been slow, she notes: “In 1978, the organization now known as the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) set a goal of building a journalism workforce that reflected the racial makeup of the US population by the year 2000.... In 2000, ASNE pushed its target date for diversity back five years, and newspapers began to issue apologies for past wrongdoing.” She explores what various magazines and newspapers have done in recent years to atone for past mistakes and current systemic injustices. Ultimately, though, she says that “apologies are crucial to the ongoing work of accountability. It can be heartening to see news outlets engage in acts of penance. But they are not the same as reparations.” Read Neason’s piece in its entirety here.

Telework: Where Publishers Stand

It’s hard to know when, or if, many editors and publishers will return to their offices. This week, Sara Guaglione of Digiday.com discusses where things stand in the publishing world, and there seems to be a disconnect between publishers and their employees. “Publishers are now expecting to fully open their office doors to employees in the summer,” writes Guaglione. “But their staffers aren’t expecting it to happen until next year.” She cites publishers such as the New York Times, whose plans to bring back many more staffers this month have been deferred in response to the still raging pandemic. Several publishers have now pushed the goalpost to June or July, but it remains to be seen whether or not the pandemic will have died down enough by then, particularly with new strains circulating in the US. Read more here.

Journalism Ethics Forced to Evolve

In recent years, journalists have faced more threats and violence than in recent memory. This is causing editorial offices to rethink their ethical guidelines to keep their staffers safe. Kelly McBride of Poynter.org sums up the dilemma: “The increasing acts of violence against journalists are causing many newsrooms to rethink some ethical best practices. These evolving standards go beyond the recommendations for covering demonstrations and political violence.” She offers suggestions for publishers seeking to “balance the need to document the first draft of history with the need to keep journalists safe” in the following categories: best practices for identifying oneself; taking pictures safely; audience engagement staff, social media managers, and newswire editors; and journalists of color. Read more here.

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