COVER WARS: Ted Kennedy’s Final Roar

With the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy, Time‘s commemorative issue chose to focus on Ted as the Liberal Lion, in a bright cover photograph that prominently features sage signifiers like his wrinkles and silver hair. This vision of the senator as a wizened relic will be familiar to anyone who remembers Kennedy’s last chapter, reigning as the grandfather of the Senate, the last of a dying breed.

Mediaite Grade (B): The recent shot of Kennedy shows an honest weariness in a man who experienced more than his share of tragedy and scandal but managed to wrangle out of it the respect and adoration of millions. Still, the hagiographic portrait, with its halo of light and stylized tones, comes off as the slightest bit removed. The man’s grim expression and the photo’s harsh light leaves the whole thing looking a little, well, cadaverous.

Though People‘s cover this week features Jaycee Dugard nationally, a special Massachusetts edition gives cover honors to “Camelot’s last brother.” In blue and yellow tones, the gossip rag promises “His Life in Pictures” and for its cover, picks a strange mid-life picture with an inlay of a family candid. Consistent with the magazine’s style, the cover attempts to show Kennedy away from politics and as a standard civilian.

Mediaite Grade (C+): A strange selection of cover photographs leaves it feeling outdated, but not vintage, and finds Kennedy looking casual, but not comfortable. For a man whose entire life was documented by the press, the pool of photos is doubtlessly deep, and yet, in an attempt to appear unique, People went with shots that were neither representative nor interesting.

Newsweek‘s cover this week opted for a handsome headshot of glory days Ted, looking classy and almost Jack-esque. The eclipsing way in which his head obscures the magazine’s name does well to highlight the commemoration of the man and the issue sports an “Understanding Teddy” headline, promising words from the likes of Jon Meacham and interestingly, Bob Dole.

Mediaite Grade (A-): The newsweekly appears to know its reader-base, choosing showcase the late Senator at his most strapping — how many in older generations will likely remember the man — instead of displaying the gruffer, timeworn elder he eventually became. The longing in his eyes says something both spiritual and symbolic, and the issue seems to be a celebration, with no mention of Kennedy’s death. The only mishaps are the miscellaneous headlines in the lower corner, which distract from the sound focus of the cover.

In a second Kennedy cover, Newsweek goes the route of an entire tribute issue, with a “special commemorative edition,” its cover set in black and white and featuring the three Kennedy boys, pearly whites on display, under the headline “The Last Brother Edward M. Kennedy, 1932-2009.”

Mediaite Grade (A):In terms of sheer aesthetics, this special edition cover is far and away the most pleasing, with its vintage cover shot capturing the style and grace of a bygone era. Teddy — the youngest of nine Kennedy children — is bookended by his overachieving older brothers, but stands tall and handsome among them, gazing into the distance. It’s a photo ripe for analysis, but also has a standalone quality about it — a summation of American royalty and one ragtag boy’s place in it.

COVER WARS WINNER: The choice of a cover shot following the death of an icon is always a complex decision: do you find the portrait that captures the person at their peak or their end? Will the cover be about documentation, spectacle or celebration? Most important, though, is that the picture of choice captures the essence and the spirit of its subject. With this criteria, Newsweek commemorative issue, featuring the three Kennedy brothers sparkling in their primes, is the only truly fitting tribute for the last of a legacy.

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