Andrea Tantaros, a political consultant, accused the magazine of running flattering covers of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, The Daily Telegraph reports. One notorious cover showed Obama with what looked like a halo.

"This cover is a clear slap in the face of Sarah Palin," Tantaros said on television. "Why? Because it's unretouched. It highlights every imperfection that every human being has. We're talking unwanted facial hair, pores, wrinkles."

Tantaros said that many Newsweek photos of Obama show clear signs of retouching.

Jeff Bercovici, a media analyst with Conde Naste Portfolio, said that the magazine had a clear "implicit" message.

"Here's your beauty queen, ... your 'hottest governor from the coldest state.' How do you like her now that you've seen her crows' feet, her clumpy mascara, her bloodshot eyes, her faint mustache, her cakey makeup, her gaping pores etc," he wrote on his blog.