Obama to Write Newsweek Cover Story on Haiti

President Obama will author the cover story of next week's issue of Newsweek -- an essay on the crisis in Haiti, the Wall Street Journal reports. The newsmagazine scrapped plans for a story on the Google-China row when a massive earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday, and reportedly was looking for the highest authority possible to write about the tragedy. Editor Jon Meacham reached Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, and the president eventually agreed.

Since reformatting and refocusing itself last year, the struggling magazine has become a forum for top power brokers and political minds to discuss national and world events. Newsweek's most recent cover story, which made a conservative case for gay marriage, was penned by Bush administration solicitor general Theodore Olson.

Obama's Haiti essay will hit newsstands just a few days before the first anniversary of his inauguration.