President Barack Obama took over the November issue of Wired magazine as a guest editor, and the publication’s editorial staff couldn’t be happier about it.
Historically, having a sitting president control a major publication might have been considered journalistically unethical. Today, Wired is positively giddy about the idea.
Wired’s site opens with a video of Obama introducing the November issue, titled “Frontiers.” The president’s likeness is plastered across the cover of the magazine, as well as the site itself.
“This is the first time ever that President Obama — or any sitting U.S. president — has guest-edited a major publication,” wrote Wired’s Editor-in-Chief Scott Dadich in his editor’s letter.
Obama of course did not actually edit the magazine’s copy for two months, but he did have control over the direction of content included in the issue.
“What guest editors do, typically, is tell us who they are and what they care about,” wrote Dadich. “They point us to ideas and themes and people that are meaningful to them, and we turn those thoughts into stories.”
Typically, journalism serves as an unofficial “fourth estate,” checking the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government. Maintaining independence from the other “estates” is usually crucial to a publication’s ability to do its job.
In his opening essay, Obama claims both the country and the world are better “by almost every measure” than eight years ago –when he took office.
While he rightly pointed out several important recent technological advances, the president also touted the supposed benefits of several of his policies, such as Obamacare, green energy and global climate change initiatives. Obama also noted that there are several challenges that remain, such as economic inequality, gun violence, terrorism, cybersecurity and several others.
The rest of the issue includes several articles ranging from topics on Obama’s fascination with Star Trek to his belief that artificial intelligence could hack a nuke.
Dadich assured readers that Obama’s appearance as guest editor “isn’t about politics,” but the president used the opportunity to push his own policies and viewpoints from the outset of the issue. He also noted that the special issue is not intended “to get anyone elected,” despite the fact the magazine endorsed Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in August.
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