UPDATED: Pulitzer Prize winning satirist can't get into App Store
UPDATE: According to the WSJ, Apple has contacted Fiore:
Apple called the cartoonist Thursday and suggested that he resubmit the app, Mr. Fiore said in an interview. “I feel kind of guilty,” he said. “I’m getting preferential treatment because I got the Pulitzer.”
Preferential perhaps but not uncommon. Several controversial app rejections have been reconsidered when publicity brought them to the attention of higher-ups at Apple. Unfortunately, the "review team rejects, executive team reconsiders" is not a scalable or likely desirable strategty for Apple.
ORIGINAL: Mark Fiore, the first online journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize (for editorial cartooning), has had his iPhone app, NewsToons rejected from the App Store because it violates Apple's policy against "ridiculing public figures".
This follows similar rejections of Bobble Rep, which contained political caricatures by Tom Richmond, and MSNBC.com Cartoons by Daryl Cage. Both of those apps eventually made it into the App Store, and it's possible NewsToons will as well (though Fiore isn't going to bother fighting on its behalf), but the situation highlights another problem with the highly regulated store model.
There will always be cases where legitimate artistic and/or social expression gets caught up in policies designed to exclude extreme, abusive, or otherwise inappropriate content for the general audience. Just as all nudity isn't porn (or isn't intended to titillate), political satire isn't the same as political attack or public ridicule for partisan purposes.
And just like rejection can have a chilling effect on developers, it can have a chilling effect on the press that holds their editorial freedom near-sacred.
We've seen signs of Apple considering an Explicit category for the "sexy apps" removed from the App Store earlier in the year. A satire category sounds less wieldy, however and points out once again the types of problems Apple will have with both content creators and simple scale as the App Store continues to race towards 200,000 apps.
There are 12 comments. Add yours.
I think that rejecting those apps was a good look for apple. Most of them are borderline when it comes to being comical or something else.
This is exactly what web apps are for.
Apple usually has a legitimate reason for doing things and while I don't totally agree I can understand their point of view. This, however, is b#!! $h!*. It's one thing to talk about wanting purity in their app store which is a noble goal. But how can they want this while they're selling movies and TV shows on the iTunes store that do exactly what they're trying to ban on the App Store. Anybody try to search SNL or Family Guy on the iTunes store? Both are in the iTunes store. And they're tame compared to South Park and guess what - it's there too! This is a bit to hypocritical for my taste.
Yes, that's why we want flash on the ipad/iphone... But apple won't allow flash/silverlight or even java so we're left with apps... happy now?
Apple should stop censoring app submissions. Review for OS integrity; fine. Create some filters in iTunes so that users who don't want to view satire, porn,nudity, art may use iTunes on their own terms; great! This holier than thou attitude needs to stop.
Seeing how Jobs' wife has contributed thousands of dollars to a long line of libs that include Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, and Barack Obama, it's pretty obvious what their political leanings are and why they don't want an app like this in the appstore. We can't be critical of a sitting president can we? Oh that's right, we can if it's George Bush. Such a double standard.
@CJ, if you are correct and it is political there is one oversight that I'd like to point out in your post. Al Gore is on the Apple Board.
this is good one
@Reptile
I think it's great that Apple has Al Gore sitting on the board. After all, he did invent the internet.
So Apple and Chinese government do have something in common.
This is exactly why I'm ditching the iPhone. It's my freakin device. I don't need Apple to lord over how I use it.
@Redhat
you're soooooo
Righ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!