Britney Spears on the Cover of New York Times

Yahoo! News - N.Y. Times Execs Talk News Coverage

Popular culture, meanwhile, is "the pulse of the country," and influences everything from the business world to governments overseas, Raines said, praising a recent front page story about pop idol Britney Spears. "It was about the fame machine, the economic engine that's behind it," Raines said. "Our readers are interested in reading a sophisticated exegesis of a sociological phenomenon like that."

OK...everyone...1,2,3...PULEEEEEZE! "...exegesis of a sociological phenomenon..."?

Come on. Have some honesty here. You put her on the cover because she is a scantily clad, sexy, young girl...uh...sorry...woman who happens to sing. Or rather, tries to sing. And you did it because it would sell papers.