Offensive Obama Picture in Roswell Beacon

A Roswell, Georgia newspaper is defending a controversial cover illustration that placed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in a rifle's cross hairs. The Roswell Beacon is a free weekly rag that has a distribution of about 65,000 in the city of Roswell, which is just north of Atlanta, Georgia. The controversial front cover was published on May 15, 2008.

The associated article states that north Georgia is the home to some serious racists, and whether we like it or not, Obama's candidacy has brought out the worst in a lot of people. Some have questioned whether there is a need for a newspaper to suggest assassination with such an incendiary cover such as this.

The paper's publisher, John Fredericks is quoted as saying, "Good, bad, or ugly, we tell the truth." The cover was approved with little debate about it being appropriate, though they were aware that it would likely cause a buzz in the community.

The cover's article was pitched and reported by veteran freelance journalist Alan Sverdlik, who said he was curious how law enforcement agencies were handling the increased number of threats lodged against Sen. Obama by white supremacist groups, some of whom are based around north Fulton. Sverdlik said Tuesday he had not seen the cover and had no input in its development.

A number of bloggers have written articles calling the Roswell Beacon to task for publishing such an incendiary cover.

Read the entire AJC article about the Obama cover picture here.

WARNING!
The Roswell Beacon article is a chilling and quite disturbing expose' that takes place just north of Atlanta; one of the subjects openly discusses the assassination of Obama and the beginning of a race war if he is elected President.

Read the actual article from the Roswell Beacon here and it is also re-posted on the Reporter-Cub blog.


plez sez: roswell, georgia is home to the whites who fled the city of atlanta to the south. north atlanta (and north fulton county) is probably the reddest part of red state georgia. the right leaning roswell beacon features syndicated columns from ultra-conservative michelle malkin, it is a free rag that panders to its constituency: a large community of right wing borderline racists! they see nothing wrong with giving comfort to those who would kill a Black man who would be so bold as to aspire to the presidency of the united states.

it is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in this country when a presidential candidate (more than likely, the presumptive nominee and quite likely the next president) is given the cover of even a fish wrapping rag in the crosshairs of a rifle! if the man who is singularly responsible for the wrongful death of over 4,000 americans in iraq isn't worthy of this publisher's ire (for those who are kind of slow, i'm talking about george w. bush), i can only wonder what Barack Obama has done (other than being born with brown skin) to endear such an honor? and my gut instinct tells me that the color of his skin has everything to do with it and concerns about his safety have very little to do with it.

the cover art is no longer accessible on the beacon's website. but i intend to let my feelings known by sending them more e-mail. a local holiday inn has already pulled support from the rag based on the backlash over the cover.