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The American Spectator

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This article is about the conservative political magazine. For the 20th-century literary magazine, see American Spectator (literary magazine).
The American Spectator
EditorR. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
CategoriesPolitics
FounderGeorge Nathan and Truman Newberry
First issue1967; 57 years ago (1967)
CompanyAmerican Spectator Foundation
CountryUnited States
Based inAlexandria, Virginia, U.S.
LanguageEnglish
Websitespectator.org
ISSN0148-8414

The American Spectator is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell (the current editor-in-chief) and Wladyslaw Pleszczynski (its editorial director as of 1980). [citation needed]

The magazine has featured the writings of the several authors such as Malcolm Gladwell, Greg Gutfeld and Dinesh D'Souza. Current frequently contributing writings include Daniel Flynn, Paul Kengor, Robert Stacy McCain, Scott McKay, George Neumayr, and George Parry. [citation needed]

It gained popularity in the 1990s during its investigation of Bill Clinton under what became known as its Arkansas Project. During this same time period, The American Spectator received a $1.8 million donation from Richard Mellon Scaife.[1] Despite this success, the magazine has not been able to maintain the circulation it reached at this time and has since been accused of "hit jobs",[2] lack of corroboration,[3] and denial of the scientific consensus around global warming.[4]

History

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The magazine American Spectator is published by the nonprofit media organization American Spectator Foundation. The foundation itself was founded in 1969, with "the stated goal of bringing quality journalism to the forefront of the national political conversation".[5]

The magazine's circulation increased tenfold during the investigation of Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton under what became known as its "Arkansas Project".[3]

However, American political commentator Rush Limbaugh has been credited for the popularity of The American Spectator, due to his free promotion of the magazine and the paid advertisements on Limbaugh's radio and TV shows, which reached an audience of 20 million.[3]

Following financial shortfalls, including a resistance from Tyrell to have the Arkansas Project audited, The American Spectator was sold to George Gilder, leading to layoffs and a relocation to Great Barrington, Massachusetts.[6] Circulation has not returned to the near 300,000 that the magazine saw during its investigation of the Clintons.[6]

Controversies

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In the early 1990s, The American Spectator published two lengthy essays by writer David Brock, "The Real Anita Hill" and the "Troopergate story", both of alleged inappropriate behavior by then-President Bill Clinton.[3] Brock has since denounced the former article in the 2003 book Blinded by the Right: the Conscience of an Ex-Conservative, in which he states that the article caused the magazine's content to move "away from thoughtful essays and scholarly reviews and humor pieces" to "hit jobs".[2]

In 2011, Assistant Editor Patrick Howley published a piece detailing his infiltration of a protest in Washington, D.C. In the article, Howley asserts his aim to "mock and undermine" the protest against American Imperialism, and writes in the first person about his experiences protesting at the National Air and Space Museum.[7] This article, and the methods detailed within, was condemned by The Guardian, The Atlantic's "Atlantic Wire" blog, and The Economist, because they believed the correspondents who worked on the story had conflated journalism and politics.[8][9][10] Matt Steinglass of The Economist wrote that Howley "winds up offering a vision of politics as a kind of self-focused performance art, or perhaps (to say the same thing) a version of Jackass."[11]

In September 2020, the American Spectator Foundation filed a lawsuit in federal court against Press Holdings Media Group, a for-profit company that owns the British conservative magazine The Spectator. The lawsuit alleged that the company used American Spectator's trademark name and imagery when publishing the Spectator USA website and the U.S. version of their magazine.[12]

The American Spectator has been criticized for its "hype and hysteria" and "out-of-control screeds that attack the obvious suspects and lack corroboration".[3] The non-profit organization Greenpeace notes that the magazine is part of a "conservative media network with clear Koch influence [that] serves as a reliable platform for attacks on the scientific consensus of global warming".[4]

Online publication

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The magazine's final monthly print publication was released in July/August 2014. While The American Spectator did issue a September/October PDF-only version late in mid-November 2014, the masthead still claimed that it was "published monthly, except for combined July/Aug and Jan/Feb issues." A note from Editorial Director Wladyslaw Pleszczynski admitted that "...we have some problems of our own."[13] Pleszczynski added that the issue "was ready for release well over a month ago but for reasons affecting many a print publication these days couldn't be published on actual pages and after considerable delay is now being released in digital form only." Subsequently, online publications have become permanent and available.[14]

The latest editions of the magazine:

  • Summer 2021 Magazine "The Biden Economy"[15]
  • Winter 2020 Magazine "Liberty in Crisis"[16]
  • Summer 2020 Magazine "Make America Great - Yet Again"[17]
  • Fall 2019 Magazine "Technical Difficulties"[18]

Return to print

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The magazine returned to print in the fall of 2017 under the direction of Hannah Rowan. It is published in the winter and summer.[19]

Core editorial staff

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References

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  1. ^ Lewis, Neil A. (April 15, 1998). "Almost $2 Million Spent in Magazine's Anti-Clinton Project, but on What?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Brock, David (2003). Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative. Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4000-4728-4. An entire chapter (Chapter 5) is devoted to describing Brock's experience writing "The Real Anita Hill" article and book in the early 1990s. The "hit jobs" quote is from p. 110.
  3. ^ a b c d e "American Journalism Review - Archives". ajrarchive.org. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  4. ^ a b "American Spectator Foundation - Greenpeace USA". 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  5. ^ "The American Spectator Foundation | About". www.amspecfoundation.org. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  6. ^ a b York, Byron (2001-11-01). "The Life and Death of The American Spectator". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  7. ^ "The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Standoff in D.C". Archived from the original on 2011-10-23.
  8. ^ McVeigh, Karen (10 October 2011). "Washington protest: American Spectator condemned over article". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  9. ^ Coscarelli, Joe. "'Journalist' Poses As Protester, Gets Pepper-Sprayed for a Story". Daily Intelligencer. Archived from the original on 2011-10-11. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  10. ^ Coates, Ta-Nehisi (10 October 2011). "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  11. ^ "Conservative "Jackass"". The Economist. October 11, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  12. ^ Brittain, Blake (September 2, 2020). "American Spectator Alleges Spectator Magazine Infringes Mark". Bloomberg Law. Archived from the original on 2024-06-22. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  13. ^ Pleszczynski, Wlady (September–October 2014). "The Defiant Ones" (PDF). About This Month. The American Spectator. Vol. 47, no. 6–7. p. 2. ISSN 0148-8414. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
  14. ^ "The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator | USA News and Politics". The American Spectator | USA News and Politics. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  15. ^ "Magazine | The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator | USA News and Politics". The American Spectator | USA News and Politics. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  16. ^ R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr, Wladyslaw Pleszczynski (Winter 2020). "THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR "Liberty in Crisis"". E.g.The American Spectator: 122.
  17. ^ R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., Wladyslaw Pleszczynski (Summer 2020). "THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR "Make Amerika great - yet again"". E.g.The American Spectator: 87.
  18. ^ R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., Wlady Pleszczynski (Fall 2019). "The American Spectator "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES"". E.g.The American Spectator: 71.
  19. ^ "American Spectator Foundation". InfluenceWatch.

Further reading

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