cover story vs fig leaf

cover story

noun
  • A fictitious account that is intended to hide one's real motive. 

  • A story included in a publication that is highlighted on the front cover. 

fig leaf

noun
  • Anything used to conceal something undesirable or that one does not want to be discovered. 

  • A leaf of the fig plant. 

  • A representation of leaf of a fig plant used to cover the genitals of a nude figure in a work of art (alluding to Genesis iii 7, in which Adam and Eve use fig leaves to hide their nakedness). 

How often have the words cover story and fig leaf occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )