can anyone tell me if RW has ever featured a black model/runner on it's front cover?i honestly can't remember.
It's well known in the fashion industry that white models sell more mags eg vogue than black.this has resulted in a racist agenda in that industry.when naomi campbell protested about this she was passed over as a moaner.
why doesn't RW feature black runners for example when most of the best runners are kenyan,ethiopean?i've seen paula, and so we should,but adere,gebre,mutola even mixed race kelly holmes has never been on the cover.
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Im not saying they shouldn't have black runners on the cover but I dont like this sudo-anti-racist number averaging stuff. In most cases Mag editors are not racist in my opinion.
Positive discrimination in my view is on an equal par with racist - both should be banished to the pits of hell.
Which is probably why there'll never be one, Itfar.
It's what sells the mag. Not what is fair!
Except me of course
:-)
I can't remember seeing more than three or four over the last two years and I've entered some big events.
Who cares who's on the bleeding cover?
It's a running magazine aiming for its target readership, get over it.
They wouldn't be able to satisfy the demand from sex-crazed Cosmo readers who mistakenly think that they've picked up another saucy "For Women" mag, only to find out that overpronation has nothing to do with wearing out your lady-gadget.
It's true!
It migh tbe interesting, however, for RW to write a feature about the low level of non-white runners in this country.
Jordan
mmmm Custard
I'd like to see coloured runners on the cover of RW. Why not a good pic of Mr Singh that 92 year old bloke resplendant in his turban. Would make a great cover pic.
We are a multi racial society and we should try and be all inclusive. If RW's policy is to promote running and by that it has to have a good looking healthy runner on it's cover it might not do them any harm to have a coloured runner on it's cover once in a while. The cover has to stand out from the hundreds there already are on the shelves. To do this takes imagination and sometimes a little courage. Magazines which win awards are usually ones which do something new and push back the boundaries of normality.
Why not have a black runner on the front of RW?
"not being funny but not many black people are into running"???? where do you live? iceland?
and what exactly do you want me to "get over?"you obviously think i have a problem with being non white.sorry to disappoint you mate.
What's the big deal about what is on the cover of the magazine?
Itfar was simply asking a question.
He compared RW with fashion magazines and teh analogy seemed to suggest that RW was being racist.
Maybe I misunderstood in which case I apologise.
While we try and hide/deny the truth, or make racism a taboo subject or postitely descriminate (arguably racism against whites) we will never solve the problem.
I know all on this forum have the best intentions as do I, as far as I am concerned the colour of the person on the cover is a non issue unless we make it one, call me nieve but thats the way I feel.
What about a dog on the cover? they run too...
However, in small local races non-white runners are a rarity, even here, and the same seems to be true of the running clubs apart from Birchfield Harriers. I wonder whether this means that many runners from other ethnic groups see the recreational running "establishment" as not being for them.
I think that most white people (who don't hold any strongly racist views) would say that race isn't an issue to them. That's because it isn't. It doesn't mean it isn't an issue to others though. As a non-white person, you're a lot more likely to notice the absence of black runners on the cover than a white person would.
Personally I don't care what colour/age/gender the cover model is - I'm all for 90-year old Mr Singh on there.
I don't think that a black cover model would necessarily encourage more black runners though, given that most people who buy or even notice the magazine are existing runners.
I don't know, someone tell me! Maybe I've missed something.
I'd have thought that equality in representation on the front of RW was a long way down the list of priorities after things such as workplace equality etc.
How about disabled runners? They might not run but they take place in road races.
Why not?
And I genuinely haven't seen that many Afro-Caribbean runners. There was 1 out of a field of 1000 at Morpeth, 1 out of 750 at Thanet, I can't remember a single one at Nottingham last year for RHM ...
Yes I take your points and agree it is a matter of perspective.
The reason I posted is that I guess I dont like seeing the race card pulled for the sake of it (as seems to happen so many times). i.e. every time a black person is assulted by whites its always presented by the media as racism, where I used to live the opposite used to happen and you never even heard of it. There seems to always be a fear of white people saying anything negative about blacks as there are groups that will immediatly jump and call them racist which is not the case.
It just struck me as a PC-rant. If I've offended anyone then I apologise profusely.
I'd better not say anymore in case it gets taken the wrong way. I will say however that if there was more representation of black runners on the cover it wouldn't bother me at all.
I don't think it's a deliberate policy of RW ( at least I hope not ). It's just that someone has not said " hey lets have a picture of a non white runner this month on the cover " when they have been searching through the archives of suitable photos.
At the end of the day the cover pic is all about getting it standing out from the shelf and into someones shopping bag. Frankly the covers these days are a little boring and need an injection of creativity and something a litte different. A black and white cover for instance might make it stand out from the mass of colour. A pic of a coloured runner would probably do the same and quite possibly appeal to non whites who just might like to take up running and follow in the footsteps of some of our most distinguished athletes who happen to be black.
It really needs a picture editor to be a little daring.
i never implied that RW is racist or has a racist agenda.i just(naively)felt that RW might be different and aslo might take a different stance once in a while.OK so it does cater for the vast majority of its readership who happen to be white.so is this sensible marketing?are we also saying that just because we don't see many black runners in races that RW is only there for serious runners who race? what about the recreational runners, as VRAP pointed out?in many larger cities there are thousands of black/asian runners.just because we don't see them competing doesn't mean they aren't there.