One of the emails I’m willingly subscribed to and really look forward to every week, is a newsletter for subscribers of The Economist that tells the story of the week’s cover choice. While guaranteed to–excuse the pun–cover the news, the newsletter is an always interesting distraction from current events.
In a few paragraphs, accompanied with sketches and more polished candidates that did not make the final cut, the email describes the creative and journalistic process that lead to that week’s magazine newspaper cover image.
This week’s cover story was fascinating as usual. It meandered past syringe filled images of rocketry, from corona virus symbolism to vaccine technology and ended up at a picture of hope, expressed by the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
The Economist Cover image for November 14-20, 2020
Most weeks, a glance at the cover image and the ensuing story about its creation match like a pea and a pod. This week was different.
Maybe it’s me, I realize that good news of a vaccine brings a glimmer of hope in times of an ever escalating pandemic, but with the last 2-ish weeks behind us, in seeing that tunnel I never even noticed the virus particle outline or the syringe in the light.
I’m not sure if it was intended or not, but I don’t think The Economist could have better expressed the feeling of many people around the world, people who care about others and the planet, people who would like to see normality in their daily life–and maybe even the news–without spilling a drop of ink on the matter. Thank you.