Categories: OLD Media Moves

Hindus upset with Fortune cover

Charles Pulliam-Moore of Fusion writes about how some are upset with the latest cover of Fortune’s international edition, which depicts Amazon’s Jeff Bezos as Vishnu, one of the three Trimurti central to Hinduism and uses the word “invades.”

Pulliam-Moore writes, “Between the image and the headline of the article, entrepreneur and blogger Anil Dash explained, Fortune appeared not to have picked up on the heavy imperialist overtones.

“‘Thing is, I don’t care about some ‘sacrilege.’ What I detest is the evidence that no PoC at Fortune has enough power to stop this idiocy,’ Dash tweeted. ‘Also, many Indian people (like my dad) were born under colonial rule. So a headline discussing a corporate ‘invasion’ is probably not ideal.’

“To his credit, Fortune Editor-In-Chief Alan Murray apologized for having approved a cover that caused so much offense, but the question still remained as to how exactly something like this happens.

“The most logical answer is simple: nobody raised any concerns about the cover or the copy throughout the editorial process. In Dash’s opinion, though, the lack of concern was reflective of a deeper problem: a lack of diversity in the newsroom.”

Read more here. Murray posted an apology on Fortune’s website here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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