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{{Short description|Conservative American magazine}}
{{Short description|Conservative American magazine}}
{{About|the conservative political magazine|the 20th-century literary magazine|American Spectator (literary magazine)}}
{{About|the conservative political magazine|the 20th-century literary magazine|American Spectator (literary magazine)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Cleanup|reason=see [[Talk:The American Spectator#Cleanup needed]]|date=September 2023}}
{{Essay-like|date=September 2023}}
{{Peacock|date=September 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2023}}
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{{Infobox magazine
{{Infobox magazine
| title = The American Spectator
| title = The American Spectator
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| circulation =
| circulation =
| publisher =
| publisher =
| founder = [[George Jean Nathan|George Nathan]] and [[Truman Handy Newberry|Truman Newberry]]
| founder = [[George Jean Nathan|George Nathan]]<br />[[Truman Handy Newberry|Truman Newberry]]
| founded =
| founded =
| firstdate = {{start date and age|1967}}
| firstdate = {{start date and age|1967}}
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'''''The American Spectator''''' is a [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[United States|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, who remains its editor-in-chief, with [[Wladyslaw Pleszczynski]] its editorial director since 1980.
'''''The American Spectator''''' is a [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[United States|American]] magazine covering news and politics, edited by [[Emmett Tyrrell|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|date=August 2024|reason=No source for founding of publication or current editorial board}}

From 1967 until the late 1980s, the magazine featured the writings of authors such as [[Thomas Sowell]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spectator.org/bio/thomas-sowell/|title=Thomas Sowell |website=The American Spectator|access-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209123951/https://spectator.org/bio/thomas-sowell/|archive-date=February 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Tom Wolfe]], [[P. J. O'Rourke]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spectator.org/bios/pj-orourke|title=Spectator.org|access-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421062320/http://spectator.org/bios/pj-orourke|archive-date=April 21, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> [[George F. Will]], [[Malcolm Gladwell]], [[Patrick J. Buchanan]], [[Tom Bethell]], Terry Eastland, [[Andrew Ferguson]], [[Christopher Caldwell (journalist)|Christopher Caldwell]], [[Fred Barnes (journalist)|Fred Barnes]], [[Roger Scruton]], Walter Williams, Raymond Aron, Luigi Barzini, [[Paul Johnson (writer)|Paul Johnson]], [[Irving Kristol]], Jean-Francois Revel, and [[Malcolm Muggeridge]]. [[Bill Kristol]] and [[William McGurn|Bill McGurn]] began their careers at ''The American Spectator'', as did [[Greg Gutfeld]] and [[John Podhoretz]], who started at the magazine as interns. Some of the earliest published articles by [[Dinesh D'Souza]], [[Laura Ingraham]], and [[David Frum]] appeared at ''The American Spectator''. Among the magazine's longest-serving columnists are [[Thomas Sowell]], economist and celebrity [[Ben Stein]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spectator.org/bio/ben-stein/|title=Ben Stein |website=The American Spectator|access-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190206060746/https://spectator.org/bio/ben-stein/|archive-date=February 6, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Roger Kaplan, and John Coyne. Current frequently contributing writers include conservative health care consultant David Catron,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spectator.org/bio/david-catron/|title=David Catron |website=The American Spectator|access-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209123828/https://spectator.org/bio/david-catron/|archive-date=February 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Dov Fischer, Daniel Flynn, Ross Kaminsky, [[Paul Kengor]], [[Robert Stacy McCain]], [[Scott McKay]], George Neumayr, and [[George Parry (MP)|George Parry]]. [[Ali Alexander]] and [[Jeffrey Lord]] have also contributed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://spectator.org/forecast-gop-victory-but-no-red-wave/|title=Forecast: GOP Victory But No Red Wave - The American Spectator &#124; USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator &#124; USA News and Politics|first=Ali|last=Alexander|website=The American Spectator &#124; USA News and Politics}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jeffrey Lord |url=https://spectator.org/bio/jeffrey-lord/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124345/https://spectator.org/bio/jeffrey-lord/ |archive-date=February 9, 2019 |access-date=February 7, 2019 |website=The American Spectator}}</ref>

During the 1990s, the magazine grew in visibility and impact, primarily for its reports on [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Hillary Clinton]] and its "[[Arkansas Project]]", funded by businessman [[Richard Mellon Scaife]] and the [[Bradley Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web|author-link=Neil Lewis (journalist)|first=Neil A.|last=Lewis|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F16FF3D580C768DDDAD0894D0494D81|title=Almost $2 Million Spent in Magazine's Anti-Clinton Project, but on What?|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 15, 1998|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311133618/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F16FF3D580C768DDDAD0894D0494D81|archive-date=March 11, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>


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 J. Flynn|Daniel Flynn]], [[Paul Kengor]], [[Robert Stacy McCain]], [[Scott McKay]], George Neumayr, and [[George Parry (MP)|George Parry]]. {{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}
==Founding and history==
''The American Spectator'' took its name from a short-lived magazine founded in 1924 by [[George Jean Nathan]] and [[Truman Handy Newberry|Truman Newberry]]. The origins of the current magazine date to its founding by Tyrrell in 1967 in [[Bloomington, Indiana]]. That year, Tyrrell and his "Saturday Evening Club" took up the name, calling the magazine ''The Alternative: An American Spectator''.


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]].<ref>{{cite web|author-link=Neil Lewis (journalist)|first=Neil A.|last=Lewis|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F16FF3D580C768DDDAD0894D0494D81|title=Almost $2 Million Spent in Magazine's Anti-Clinton Project, but on What?|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 15, 1998|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311133618/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F16FF3D580C768DDDAD0894D0494D81|archive-date=March 11, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> 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",<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Brock |first=David |title=Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative |publisher=Random House, Inc. |year=2003 |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.</ref> lack of corroboration,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=American Journalism Review – Archives |url=https://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=1608&id=1608 |access-date=August 11, 2024 |website=ajrarchive.org}}</ref> and denial of what its supporters think is the scientific consensus around global warming.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=June 26, 2015 |title=American Spectator Foundation – Greenpeace USA |url=https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/fighting-climate-chaos/climate-deniers/front-groups/american-spectator-foundation/ |access-date=August 11, 2024}}</ref>
After operating under the name ''The Alternative: An American Spectator'' for several years, the magazine changed its name in 1977 to ''The American Spectator'' because, in editor Tyrrell's words, "the word 'alternative' had come to be associated almost exclusively with radicals and with their way of life." In fact, Tyrrell had started the magazine on the campus of [[Indiana University Bloomington]] as a conservative alternative to the [[student]] [[Radicalism in the United States|radicalism]] at the nation's universities in the 1960s. ''The American Spectator'' is not affiliated with ''[[The Spectator]]'', a British magazine of somewhat similar format and conservatism founded in 1828.


⚫
== History ==
During the [[Reagan Administration]], the magazine moved from Bloomington to suburban [[Washington, D.C.]]
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".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The American Spectator Foundation {{!}} About |url=https://www.amspecfoundation.org/about.html |access-date=August 11, 2024 |website=amspecfoundation.org}}</ref>


The magazine's circulation increased tenfold during the investigation of [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Hillary Clinton]] under what became known as its "[[Arkansas Project]]".<ref name=":1" />
⚫
== 1990s ==
The publication gained prominence in the 1990s by reporting on [[political scandal]]s. The March 1992 issue contained [[David Brock]]'s criticisms of [[Clarence Thomas]] accuser [[Anita Hill]]. Brock and his colleague [[Daniel Wattenberg]] soon aimed at a bigger target: [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Bill Clinton]]. A January 1994 article about then-President Bill Clinton's sex life contained the first reference in print to Clinton accuser [[Paula Jones]], although the article focused on allegations that Clinton used [[Arkansas State Police|Arkansas state troopers]] to facilitate his [[extramarital]] sexual activities (see [[Troopergate (Bill Clinton)|Troopergate]]). It only referred to Jones by her first name, and corroborated few if any elements of her story. This article was the basis for the claim of damages in a [[sexual harassment]] lawsuit, which started the chain of events resulting in [[Impeachment of Bill Clinton|President Clinton's impeachment]].


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.<ref name=":1" />
David Brock recanted his accusations upon his departure from the conservative movement. He also denounced his Anita Hill article in his 2003 book ''[[Blinded by the Right|Blinded by the Right: the Conscience of an Ex-Conservative]]''. He implies that [[Rush Limbaugh]]'s coverage of his Anita Hill article instigated advertising on Limbaugh's network, which resulted in a large increase in the magazine's circulation. He also implies that this caused the magazine's content to move "away from thoughtful essays and scholarly reviews and humor pieces" to "hit jobs".<ref>{{cite book|last=Brock|first=David|title=Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative|year=2003|publisher=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.</ref>


Following financial shortfalls, including a resistance from Tyrell to have the Arkansas Project [[Financial audit|audited]], ''The American Spectator'' was sold to [[George Gilder]], leading to layoffs and a relocation to [[Great Barrington, Massachusetts]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=York |first=Byron |date=November 1, 2001 |title=The Life and Death of The American Spectator |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/11/the-life-and-death-of-the-american-spectator/302343/ |access-date=August 11, 2024 |work=The Atlantic|issn=2151-9463}}</ref> Circulation has not returned to the near 300,000 that the magazine saw during its investigation of the Clintons.<ref name=":3" />
Wattenberg eventually incurred the displeasure of many fellow conservatives when he admitted that he had killed a story about rumors of Clinton fathering a child out of wedlock as a result of his relationship with a young [[African American]] woman because of insufficient evidence. The story was revived in 1999 by [[Matt Drudge]].


== Controversies ==
Internal strife eventually led to the departure of long-time publisher [[Ronald Burr]] after a disagreement with Tyrrell led Burr to call for an independent audit of the magazine's finances. The departure of Burr and several prominent conservative figures from the magazine's board of directors resulted in conservative foundations pulling much of the funding the nonprofit had relied on to pay high salaries to Brock and Tyrrell, as well as to fund [[advertising mail#Direct mail marketing|direct-mail campaign]]s needed to keep up the monthly's circulation. Faced with a budget crisis, the magazine, then led by publisher [[Terry Eastland]], a former spokesman in the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]], laid off staffers and cut spending significantly. The magazine also struggled to pay legal bills incurred from an investigation launched against it by the Justice Department for alleged witness tampering in the [[Whitewater (controversy)|Whitewater investigation]]. The Justice Department investigation led to revelations about the "[[Arkansas Project]]", a campaign by businessman [[Richard Mellon Scaife]] to discredit the Clintons by funding investigative reporting at several conservative media outlets.
In the early 1990s, ''The American Spectator'' published two lengthy essays by writer [[David Brock]], "The Real Anita Hill" and the [[Troopergate (Bill Clinton)|"Troopergate story"]], both of alleged inappropriate behavior by then-President Bill Clinton.<ref name=":1" /> Brock has since denounced the former article in the 2003 book ''[[Blinded by the Right|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".<ref name=":0" />


⚫
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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spectator.org/archives/2011/10/08/standoff-in-dc|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20111023221209/http://spectator.org/blog/2011/10/08/standoff-in-dc|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 23, 2011|title=The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Standoff in D.C<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> This article, and the methods detailed within, was condemned by ''[[The Guardian]]'', ''[[The Atlantic|The Atlantic's]]'' "Atlantic Wire" blog, and ''[[The Economist]]'', because they believed the correspondents who worked on the story had conflated journalism and politics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/10/washington-protest-american-spectator-patrick-howley?newsfeed=true|title=Washington protest: American Spectator condemned over article|last=McVeigh|first=Karen|work=The Guardian|date=October 10, 2011|access-date=December 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312194611/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/10/washington-protest-american-spectator-patrick-howley?newsfeed=true|archive-date=March 12, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/journalist_poses_at_protester.html|title='Journalist' Poses As Protester, Gets Pepper-Sprayed for a Story|work=Daily Intelligencer|last=Coscarelli|first=Joe|access-date=October 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011191909/http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/journalist_poses_at_protester.html|archive-date=October 11, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/10/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/246417/|title=This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things|work=The Atlantic|last=Coates|first=Ta-Nehisi|date=October 10, 2011|access-date=March 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312200457/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/10/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/246417/|archive-date=March 12, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 (TV series)|Jackass]]''."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/democracy-in-america/2011/10/11/conservative-jackass|title=Conservative "Jackass"|date=October 11, 2011|access-date=July 10, 2019|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>
==2000s==
As shortfalls continued, [[George Gilder]] purchased the magazine and subsequent layoffs and staff departures followed. Circulation and budget losses continued and even increased in the Gilder era, and at one point the entire Washington-based staff, other than Tyrrell and executive editor and website editor [[Wladyslaw Pleszczynski]], were laid off as operations were moved to [[Massachusetts]], where the rest of George Gilder's businesses were based. In 2003, George Gilder, who had lost most of his fortune with the bursting of the [[Internet stock bubble]], sold the magazine for $1 ({{inflation|index=US|value=1|start_year=2003|r=--3|fmt=eq}}) back to Tyrrell and the American Alternative Foundation, the magazine's original owner. Later, the name of the owner was changed to the American Spectator Foundation. The magazine then moved operations back to the Washington, D.C. area. Later that year, former book publisher [[Alfred S. Regnery]] became the magazine's publisher. By 2004, circulation hovered at around 50,000.


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''<nowiki/>'s trademark name and imagery when publishing the Spectator USA website and the U.S. version of their magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brittain |first=Blake |date=September 2, 2020 |title=American Spectator Alleges Spectator Magazine Infringes Mark |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/american-spectator-alleges-spectator-magazine-infringes-mark |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622210613/https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/american-spectator-alleges-spectator-magazine-infringes-mark |archive-date=June 22, 2024 |access-date=June 22, 2024 |publisher=Bloomberg Law}}</ref>
==2010s==
In 2013, the magazine reverted to a [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] format, reflecting the roots of the magazine, which was originally published at a large size. For most of the 1990s and all of the 2000s the ''Spectator'' had been published in a traditional [[magazine]] format.


''The American Spectator'' has been criticized for its "hype and hysteria" and "out-of-control screeds that attack the obvious suspects and lack corroboration".<ref name=":1" /> The radical green organization [[Greenpeace]] claims that the magazine is part of a supposed "conservative media network with clear [[Koch Industries|Koch]] influence [that] serves as a reliable platform for attacks on the scientific consensus of global warming".<ref name=":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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spectator.org/archives/2011/10/08/standoff-in-dc|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20111023221209/http://spectator.org/blog/2011/10/08/standoff-in-dc|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-10-23|title=The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Standoff in D.C<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> This article, and the methods detailed within, was condemned by ''[[The Guardian]]'', ''[[The Atlantic|The Atlantic's]]'' "Atlantic Wire" blog, and ''[[The Economist]]'', because they believed the correspondents who worked on the story had conflated journalism and politics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/10/washington-protest-american-spectator-patrick-howley?newsfeed=true|title=Washington protest: American Spectator condemned over article|last=McVeigh|first=Karen|work=The Guardian|date=10 October 2011|access-date=2016-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312194611/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/10/washington-protest-american-spectator-patrick-howley?newsfeed=true|archive-date=2017-03-12|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/journalist_poses_at_protester.html|title='Journalist' Poses As Protester, Gets Pepper-Sprayed for a Story|work=Daily Intelligencer|last=Coscarelli|first=Joe|access-date=2011-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011191909/http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/journalist_poses_at_protester.html|archive-date=2011-10-11|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/10/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/246417/|title=This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things|work=The Atlantic|last=Coates|first=Ta-Nehisi|date=10 October 2011|access-date=2017-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312200457/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/10/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/246417/|archive-date=2017-03-12|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 (TV series)|Jackass]]''."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/democracy-in-america/2011/10/11/conservative-jackass|title=Conservative "Jackass"|date=October 11, 2011|access-date=July 10, 2019|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>


==Online publication==
==Online publication==
{{update-section|date=August 2016}}
{{update section|date=August 2016}}
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."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://cdn.spectator.org/SEPTOCT2014.pdf |magazine=The American Spectator |title=The Defiant Ones |department=About This Month |first=Wlady |last=Pleszczynski |page=2 |volume=47 |issue=6–7 |date=September–October 2014 |issn=0148-8414 |access-date=2015-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703234315/http://cdn.spectator.org/SEPTOCT2014.pdf |archive-date=2015-07-03 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The American Spectator {{!}} USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator {{!}} USA News and Politics|url=https://spectator.org/|access-date=2021-10-17|website=The American Spectator {{!}} USA News and Politics}}</ref>
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."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://cdn.spectator.org/SEPTOCT2014.pdf |magazine=The American Spectator |title=The Defiant Ones |department=About This Month |first=Wlady |last=Pleszczynski |page=2 |volume=47 |issue=6–7 |date=September–October 2014 |issn=0148-8414 |access-date=January 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703234315/http://cdn.spectator.org/SEPTOCT2014.pdf |archive-date=July 3, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The American Spectator {{!}} USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator {{!}} USA News and Politics|url=https://spectator.org/|access-date=October 17, 2021|website=The American Spectator {{!}} USA News and Politics}}</ref>


The latest editions of the magazine:
The latest editions of the magazine:


* Summer 2021 Magazine "The Biden Economy"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Magazine {{!}} The American Spectator {{!}} USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator {{!}} USA News and Politics|url=https://spectator.org/magazine/|access-date=2021-10-17|website=The American Spectator {{!}} USA News and Politics|language=en}}</ref>
* Summer 2021 Magazine "The Biden Economy"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Magazine {{!}} The American Spectator {{!}} USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator {{!}} USA News and Politics|url=https://spectator.org/magazine/|access-date=October 17, 2021|website=The American Spectator {{!}} USA News and Politics}}</ref>
* Winter 2020 Magazine "Liberty in Crisis"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr|first=Wladyslaw Pleszczynski|date=Winter 2020|title=THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR "Liberty in Crisis"|url=https://spectator.org/|journal=E.g.The American Spectator|pages=122}}</ref>
* Winter 2020 Magazine "Liberty in Crisis"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr|first=Wladyslaw Pleszczynski|date=Winter 2020|title=THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR "Liberty in Crisis"|url=https://spectator.org/|journal=E.g.The American Spectator|pages=122}}</ref>
* Summer 2020 Magazine "Make America Great - Yet Again"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.|first=Wladyslaw Pleszczynski|date=Summer 2020|title=THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR "Make Amerika great - yet again"|url=https://spectator.org/|journal=E.g.The American Spectator|pages=87}}</ref>
* Summer 2020 Magazine "Make America Great – Yet Again"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.|first=Wladyslaw Pleszczynski|date=Summer 2020|title=THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR "Make Amerika great – yet again"|url=https://spectator.org/|journal=E.g.The American Spectator|pages=87}}</ref>
* Fall 2019 Magazine "Technical Difficulties"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.|first=Wlady Pleszczynski|date=Fall 2019|title=The American Spectator "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES"|url=https://spectator.org/|journal=E.g.The American Spectator|pages=71}}</ref>
* Fall 2019 Magazine "Technical Difficulties"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.|first=Wlady Pleszczynski|date=Fall 2019|title=The American Spectator "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES"|url=https://spectator.org/|journal=E.g.The American Spectator|pages=71}}</ref>


Line 81: Line 69:


==Core editorial staff==
==Core editorial staff==
*Editor in Chief: [[R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.]]
*Editor in Chief: [[Emmett Tyrrell|R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.]]
*Editorial Director: [[Wladyslaw Pleszczynski]]
*Editorial Director: [[Wladyslaw Pleszczynski]]
*Publisher: [[Melissa Mackenzie]]
*Publisher: [[Melissa Mackenzie]]
Line 93: Line 81:
==Further reading==
==Further reading==
*David Brock, ''Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative'', [[Crown Publishing Group|Crown]], 2002. {{ISBN|0-8129-3099-1}}
*David Brock, ''Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative'', [[Crown Publishing Group|Crown]], 2002. {{ISBN|0-8129-3099-1}}
*R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. (ed.), ''Orthodoxy: The American Spectator's 20th Anniversary Anthology'', [[Harper & Row]], 1987. {{ISBN|0-06-015818-2}}
*R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. (ed.), ''Orthodoxy: The American Spectator's 20th Anniversary Anthology'', [[Harper & Row]], 1987. {{ISBN|0-06-015818-2}}


==External links==
==External links==
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[[Category:News magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:News magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Online magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Online magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct political magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1967]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1924]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 2014]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 2014]]
[[Category:Magazines published in Virginia]]
[[Category:Magazines published in Virginia]]

Latest revision as of 00:07, 27 October 2024

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
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 what its supporters think is 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 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

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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

[edit]

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

[edit]

References

[edit]
  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 August 11, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "American Spectator Foundation – Greenpeace USA". June 26, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  5. ^ "The American Spectator Foundation | About". amspecfoundation.org. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  6. ^ a b York, Byron (November 1, 2001). "The Life and Death of The American Spectator". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  7. ^ "The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Standoff in D.C". Archived from the original on October 23, 2011.
  8. ^ McVeigh, Karen (October 10, 2011). "Washington protest: American Spectator condemned over article". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  9. ^ Coscarelli, Joe. "'Journalist' Poses As Protester, Gets Pepper-Sprayed for a Story". Daily Intelligencer. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  10. ^ Coates, Ta-Nehisi (October 10, 2011). "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  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 June 22, 2024. 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 July 3, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  14. ^ "The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator | USA News and Politics". The American Spectator | USA News and Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  15. ^ "Magazine | The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator | USA News and Politics". The American Spectator | USA News and Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  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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