(CNN) - Newsweek magazine got some unsolicited PR Wednesday from President Obama, but it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement of periodical's latest issue.
At a North Carolina town-hall health care event, Obama asked if anyone had seen the latest cover of Newsweek that boldly declares, "The Recession is Over!"
"I don't know whether you've seen the cover of the latest Newsweek magazine on the rack at the grocery store, but the cover says: 'The Recession is Over,'" the president said as part of his prepared remarks at the event.
"I imagine you might have found that news a little startling," Obama continued. "I know I did."
Obama went on to say while certain indicators are improving, like the stock market and home sales, "That's little comfort if you are one of the folks who have lost their job."
The article in question - with the sub-headline of 'Good Luck Surviving the Recovery' - actually says much the same as Obama did Wednesday - that leading indicators appear to suggest the recession is nearing an end, but the recovery is likely to be a slow process.
"When economists proclaim a recession over, they're celebrating a technicality: they mean economic output has stopped contracting," Newsweek's Daniel Gross writes. "And while that is good news, you might wait a while before adding Judy Garland's rendition of 'Happy Days Are Here Again' to your iPod."
UPDATE: Gross has issued a response to the president in a posting on Newsweek.com entitled, "Obama rips Newsweek's cover. We rip back."
"The article notes—as Obama's speech does—that the discussion surrounding the end of the recession is largely a technical discussion ("GDP growth alone can't feed a family, or a pay a mortgage") and that we face tough economic times and a recovery that will feel a lot like a recession," says Gross.
"It's common to hear journalists complain of being overworked. And in this case, it's true. In addition to writing the first draft of history, we seem to be writing the first draft of the president's speeches," he also says.
From CNN Politics
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People should not be using this as a shot at Obama... I mean seriously, use your heads! This is another blatant example of Media overhyping "news" in an effort to make sales. Obama was just pointing this out
Once again, Obama's media trying to help out the boss.
The headline should have read: It's Official....Obama Overtakes Carter as The Worst President Ever!
Bush's mess can't be cleaned up that easily!!
Obama has dual citizenship, that is the foundation of the birther issue! Post the facts CNN you mullet wrap!
The President has consistantly, over the past couple of months, said the recovery shows signs of improving, but it will take time! I am glad he again reinforced that at the AARP meeting. He can be hopeful, but realistic.
President Obama you have done a great job you and your Administration. Considering the mess that was left to you, not bad Stock Market has been up, Home sales are rising,The recession is slowing, we were headed for a depression! Gas prices have been bearable, You have to work on Employment but things take time not a bad Job for 6 months keep up the good work!
Obama makes a point to tell people lets not get to excited here , there's still alot of work to do and you haters out there can only find insults to fling. I feel sorry for all you people who finally have a president with a brain who actually has the respect of people all over the world and all you can do is complain. Shameful behavior. And you wonder why Americans get laughed at abroad.
everyone across the board needs to pay tax on health care benefits-from low to high income-our representatives need to get tough and do whats right for our country-in 1776 our representatives did it !
Not to mention that the cover is a blatant rip-off of the artwork for the music group Presidents of the United States of America's "These Are the Good Times, People" recording.
Once again, the right can't handle the truth and prefers being told that everything is okay so they can go and shop, spend, and borrow from China. Newsweek should know better than to report something like that with so many out of work. Thanks for being honest, President Obama. We've got a long way to go before full recovery and I wish we could work together as Americans and stop complaining.
newsweek works with the chancellor and this is just a staged publicity stunt...WAKE UP America.
Obama is just being a realist, it doesn't matter if we are in a recession or a jobless recovery or whatever you want to call it those are just labels. We still have a lot to do to drag palin eats babies ourselves out of the whole that Bush left behind.
We, as Americans, should all be happy that at least there are some signs of recovery on the horizon.
It seems by many of the comments on this blog, that many people in the US don't really care about the US, rather they would just see the economy collapse even further just to promote political ideology.
Or worse - their suppressed racism.
I dont care what you want to call your party; Dems, Repubs, whatever, I want my 3 year old daughter to have a happy, healthy life and enjoy the opportunittes that our generations have been careless enough to squander.
I would hope that all Americans share this value.
Obama is unprofessional, arrogant and condescending. What a guy!
He's too wet behind the ears for the job.
Good trick Obama, mock those who love you the most so that you can gain some street cred from those who feel the media is in bed with you.
I'm sure Newsweek will cut down on the covers you garner next year from last years 42 to maybe 40 or even 39.
What's next, mocking MSNBC?
So he shows his ignorance by not actually reading the article that was there what a suprise. Ohh wait he never read the stimulus bill that congress passed either. For those who seam to think the President was slamming them maybe you should learn to read too as everything he said was in the article. the magazines cover is meant to grab attention so people will buy the magazine and read what is in it something the Obama aparently didn't do.
Newsweek acted stupidly.
Newsweek is pretty much a national joke.....it is fine to have a liberal attitude, but when you become like Newsweek and MSNBC,,,,,,,,you really aren't taken seriously anymore.....almost like satire
why, oh why, do the republicans who comment on here continuously show how childish they are? their escalating language does no good and only serves to push people away. they are NO help to anyone. too bad they don't seem to realize that. it'd be nice if they could just work WITH the rest of the country instead of AGAINST it.
"Don't scare the Republicans like that……they want the COUNTRY TO FAIL!!"
Exactly. "Country First" was nothing but empty marketing spin for the GOP. They would rather see our democratically-elected president fail, and have the country continue to suffer, than have to live through the embarrassment of his policies actually fixing the problem THEY caused. It's looking more and more like "conservative" and "patriot" are mutually exclusive terms.
I think the magazine cover may have been to spark some hope and raise morale. And that cover is the very beginning of people actually showing hope. So, even if the cover is wrong, I believe it was a smart move.
Yeah...I forgot that Obama has been in office for last 2 or 3 years and is completely responsible for this mess...and why shouldn't we expect him to fix it in 7 mths? Because most of us Americans are ignorant and stupid and want all our problems fixed in an instant...
Just like the Gates controversy, Obama read the headline (in this case, the cover), and failed to read the underlying story which essentially said the same thing Obama did. This is twice in one week that Obama criticized people without knowing all the facts or bothering to find them out, It is beginning to look as though Obama is quite shallow in his knowlwdge, and often speaks stupidly with his foot in his mouth. This does not foster confidence among millions of Americans
There are some of of you who are going to trash the man no matter what he does, at least he's trying to address some of these issues and fix them, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about the last 8 years. Many of us knew Bush would wreck this country before he ever took office and when we questioned it, we were told 'support your president'. Now the shoes on the other foot. Facts are simple, you can whine and moan and claim you know the solutions...you Don't. Nobody does. And Nobody can predict what will happen with this mess, it is an immense problem that has to be 'worked' and changes need to be made as you go. So my question to all the people who post this negative garbage about what's happening and claim to have all the solutions, where the hell were you 8 years ago? Nuff said.