The Weekly Standard
| Type | Weekly Political Magazine |
|---|---|
| Format | Magazine |
| Owner(s) | News Corporation |
| Publisher | Terry Eastland |
| Editor | Fred Barnes William Kristol |
| Founded | September 1995 |
| Political alignment | Neoconservative |
| Headquarters | 1150 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 |
| Circulation | 83,000 per week |
| Website | WeeklyStandard.com |
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative [1] magazine published 48 times per year. It made its debut on September 17, 1995 and is owned by the public company News Corporation. It is viewed as a leading conservative magazine. Its current editors are founder William Kristol, chairman of the Project for the New American Century, and Fred Barnes. The Weekly Standard produces "The Daily Standard" with commentary and articles written for the magazine's website.
Other frequent contributors include Stephen Schwartz, Matt Labash, and Stephen F. Hayes.
Like National Review in the administration of Ronald Reagan, it is very popular among United States President George W. Bush's administration. According to Vanity Fair (July 2003; as quoted by Ben Bagdikian in The New Media Monopoly), the office of Vice President Dick Cheney alone receives a special delivery of thirty copies. Despite the magazine's perceived closeness to the administration, William Kristol has called for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld multiple times in the pages of the magazine. Donald Rumsfeld resigned shortly after these articles were published.
The magazine regularly runs cover stories on cultural issues. For example, recent covers have been about Mozart's birthday (the caption being "Happy Birthday, Wolfgang") and one had an in depth look at the painting "American Gothic" (the caption being "American Gothic — Then and Now", with a picture of a young modern couple in place of the farmers).
The magazine loses more than a million dollars a year. Nevertheless, Rupert Murdoch, the head of the News Corporation, denies that there are any plans to sell it.[2]
Advocacy journalism
The Weekly Standard, like The Nation, is an example of advocacy journalism, a genre of journalism that allows the expression of opinion. In an interview with senior Standard writer Matt Labash published by JournalismJobs.com in May 2003, Labash was asked why conservative media outlets had enjoyed recent popularity. Labash responded, somewhat jocularly:[3]
Because they feed the rage. We bring the pain to the liberal media. I say that mockingly, but it's true somewhat. We come with a strong point of view and people like point of view journalism. While all these hand-wringing Freedom Forum types talk about objectivity, the conservative media likes to rap the liberal media on the knuckles for not being objective. We've created this cottage industry in which it pays to be un-objective. It pays to be subjective as much as possible. It's a great way to have your cake and eat it too. Criticize other people for not being objective. Be as subjective as you want. It's a great little racket. I'm glad we found it actually.
The American Conservative said of the magazine "[I]f Rupert Murdoch’s purpose was to make things happen in Washington and in the world, he could not have leveraged it better. One could spend 10 times that much on political action committees without achieving anything comparable." [4]
Editorial staff and contributors
Terry Eastland, publisher, often writes articles in the magazine.
Editorial staff
Editorial staff who often appear with by-lines in the magazine:
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Contributing editors
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References
- ^ Max Boot, What the Heck Is a 'Neocon'?, Wall Street Journal, December 30, 2002.
- ^ "Murdoch's Game", The New Yorker, 2006-10-16
- ^ Interview with Matt Labash, The Weekly Standard, JournalismJobs.com, May 2003
- ^ Scott McConnell, "Murdoch’s mag stands athwart history yelling, “Attack!”," The American Conservative, 21 November 2005.
External links
- The Weekly Standard website
- "White House Listens When Weekly Speaks", The New York Times, 11 March 2003 (TimesSelect access or purchase required)
