The American Spectator

Last updated
The American Spectator
The American Spectator.webp
Amsp1211.jpg
Editor R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
CategoriesPolitics
Founder George Nathan and Truman Newberry
First issue1967;57 years ago (1967)
CompanyAmerican Spectator Foundation
Country United States
Based in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
LanguageEnglish
Website spectator.org
ISSN 0148-8414

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 ]

Contents

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 what its supporters think is the scientific consensus around global warming. [4]

History

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

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 radical green organization Greenpeace claims that the magazine is part of a supposed "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

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:

Return to print

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

Related Research Articles

Robert Emmett Tyrrell Jr. is an American conservative magazine editor, book author and columnist. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of The American Spectator and writes with the byline "R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr."

<i>National Review</i> American conservative editorial magazine

National Review is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich Lowry, and its editor is Ramesh Ponnuru.

David Brock is an American liberal political consultant, author, and commentator who founded the media watchdog group Media Matters for America. He has been described by Time as "one of the most influential operatives in the Democratic Party".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Young Americans for Freedom</span> Conservative youth organization

Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) is a conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960 as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians on American college campuses. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the chapter affiliate of Young America's Foundation. The purposes of YAF are to advocate public policies consistent with the Sharon Statement, which was adopted by young conservatives at a meeting at the home of William F. Buckley in Sharon, Connecticut, on September 11, 1960.

"Vast right-wing conspiracy" is a phrase popularized by a 1995 memo by political opposition researcher Chris Lehane and then referenced in 1998 by the then First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton, in defense of her husband, President Bill Clinton, characterizing the continued allegations of scandal against her and her husband, including the Lewinsky scandal, as part of a conspiracy by Clinton's political enemies. The term has been used since, including in a question posed to Bill Clinton in 2009 to describe verbal attacks on Barack Obama during his early presidency. Hillary Clinton mentioned it again during her 2016 presidential campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media Matters for America</span> American media watchdog organization

Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to spotlight "conservative misinformation" in the U.S. media; its methods include issuing reports and quick responses. Two example initiatives include the "Drop Fox" campaign (2011–2013) that sought to discredit Fox News' "fair and balanced" claims; and a 2023 report about X that highlighted antisemitism on the platform.

<i>The Michigan Review</i>

The Michigan Review is a news publication in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Review, published biweekly, is funded primarily by grants from the Collegiate Network, donations, and by advertising revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Gilder</span> American writer (born 1939)

George Franklin Gilder is an American investor, author, economist, and co-founder of the Discovery Institute. His 1981 book, Wealth and Poverty, advanced a case for supply-side economics and capitalism during the early months of the Reagan administration. He is the chairman of George Gilder Fund Management, LLC.

<i>The Republican Noise Machine</i> 2004 book by David Brock

The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy is a 2004 book written by David Brock which chronicles how the American right wing was able to build its media infrastructure, and the tactics used by right-wing groups to pressure the media and spread misinformation to the public. The book was the prelude to Brock's launching of his organization Media Matters for America.

Troopergate is the popular name for a political controversy that emerged in the 1990s in which several Arkansas State Troopers claimed that they had arranged sexual liaisons for Arkansas governor Bill Clinton during his time in office and had helped deceive his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Arkansas Project was a series of investigative press reports, funded primarily by conservative businessman Richard Mellon Scaife, that focused on criticism of then-President Bill Clinton and his administration. Scaife spent nearly $2 million on the project.

Sir William Hartley Hume Shawcross is a British journalist, writer, and broadcaster. He is the incumbent Commissioner for Public Appointments. From 2012 to 2018 he chaired the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Wladyslaw "Wlady" Pleszczynski is an American conservative editor and writer. He is editorial director and web editor of The American Spectator. His tenure at Spectator dates back to the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clifford May</span> American journalist and political activist (born 1951)

Clifford D. May is an American journalist, editor, political activist, and podcast host. He is the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank created shortly after the 9/11 attacks, where he hosts the podcast Foreign Podicy. He is the weekly "Foreign Desk" columnist for The Washington Times.

The Columbia Daily Spectator is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the second-oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after The Harvard Crimson, and has been legally independent from the university since 1962. It is published at 120th Street and Claremont Avenue in New York City. During the academic term, it is published online Sunday through Thursday and printed twice monthly. In addition to serving as a campus newspaper, the Spectator also reports the latest news of the surrounding Morningside Heights community. The paper is delivered to over 150 locations throughout the Morningside Heights neighborhood.

Daniel Eli Wattenberg is an American journalist and musician. He was raised in Bethesda, Maryland. His father was the pundit Ben Wattenberg and his aunt is the actress Rebecca Schull. He received his BA degree from Columbia University in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Kengor</span> American writer and academic

Paul G. Kengor is an author and professor of political science at Grove City College and the executive director of Institute for Faith and Freedom, a Grove City College conservative think tank/policy center. He is also a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. Kengor has focused much of his work on Ronald Reagan, faith and the presidency, conservative politics, the Cold War, Communism, and Catholicism.

Deputy White House counsel Vince Foster was found dead in Fort Marcy Park off the George Washington Parkway in Virginia, outside Washington, D.C., on July 20, 1993. His death was ruled a suicide by five official investigations.

Movement conservatism is a term used by political analysts to describe conservatives in the United States since the mid-20th century and the New Right. According to George H. Nash in 2009, the movement comprises a coalition of five distinct impulses. From the mid-1930s to the 1960s, libertarians, traditionalists, and anti-communists made up this coalition, with the goal of fighting the liberals' New Deal.

Rex Armistead was a private detective, Mississippi Highway Patrol officer, and the leading operative for the since disbanded Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. Later, he was heavily involved as an investigator for the Arkansas Project, a co-ordinated attempt in the 1990s to investigate then U.S. President Bill Clinton. The project was funded by conservative media billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife.

References

  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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 4 5 "American Journalism Review - Archives". ajrarchive.org. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  4. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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