the kicker

Vlad’s Vacay: Virile, Viral

August 6, 2009

It’s not just cable. The international media, say what else you will about their commitment to covering the intricacies of an increasingly globalized political world, have done a phenomenal job of staying, uh, abreast of at least one matter of state: the Worldwide Summit Otherwise Known As Vladimir Putin’s Brawny-Nude Man-Chest.

Yes. As a result of the media’s dedicated coverage of that event, the world now has in its possession (per, in this case, Foreign Policy‘s Passport blog)…

This:

And this:

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Oh, and! This:

[all photos: Alexey Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images]

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Megan Garber is an assistant editor at the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. She was formerly a CJR staff writer.