• New York Post, Wednesday, August 12, 2015 12:45 PM

Recently Walmart, Rite Aid, and some other retailers have bowed to pressure from an advocacy group called the National Center on Sexual Exploitation to cover up Cosmopolitan at the newsstand because of the women’s lifestyle magazine’s bawdy covers -- but now the magazine industry is fighting back, at least rhetorically. This week the American Society of Magazine Editors released a statement criticizing the retailers for engaging in censorship, according to The New York Post (needless to say, covering up magazines with plastic boards doesn’t do anything for their sales either). ASME CEO Sid Holt released a statement reading: “As the leading organization for magazine media journalists, ASME wants to state its opposition to the recent decision by some retailers to mask the cover of Cosmopolitan. ASME believes that no one, least of all fringe groups, should be allowed to dictate to retailers how or where print magazines are displayed. This form of censorship sets a dangerous precedent. ASME urges retailers and readers to celebrate — not muffle — free speech.”

Read the whole story at New York Post »