The Nation 252976 226111376 2008-07-16T21:34:54Z RussBot 279219 Robot-assisted fix [[WP:DPL|links to disambiguation page]] Liberal :''This article is about the U.S [[publication]]. For other newspapers, magazines, and alternate uses by the same name, see [[The Nation (disambiguation)]].'' {{Infobox Newspaper | name = [[Image:The Nation Magazine.png|250px|centre]] | image = [[Image:The Nation 22NOV004.jpg|200px|centre]] | type = Weekly Political Magazine | format = Magazine | foundation = July 1865 | owners = The Nation Company L.P. | political = [[Progressivism|Progressive]]| headquarters = 33 Irving Place <br> New York, New York 10003 | editor = [[Katrina vanden Heuvel]] | website = [http://www.thenation.com/ TheNation.com] | circulation = 184,000 per week | }} '''''The Nation''''' ({{ISSN|0027-8378}}) is a weekly <ref> The magazine is published weekly, except for the second week in January, and biweekly the third week of July through the second week of September. </ref> [[United States]] [[periodical]] devoted to [[politics]] and [[culture]], self-described as "the flagship of the [[left-wing politics|left]]." <ref> [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CNEFRE/ Publisher's description] on [[Amazon.com]] page about ''The Nation''. Accessed 27 June 2006. </ref> Founded on [[July 6]], [[1865]] at the start of [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] as a supporter of the victorious North in the [[American Civil War]], it is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the US. It is published by the Nation Company, L.P. at 33 Irving Place, [[New York City]]. ''The Nation'' has bureaus in [[London]], and Southern [[Africa]] and departments covering [[Architecture]], [[Art]], [[Corporation]]s, [[Defense (military)|Defense]], [[Natural environment|Environment]], [[Film]]s, [[Law|Legal Affairs]], [[Music]], [[Peace]] and [[Disarmament]], [[Poetry]], and the [[United Nations]]. The [[Newspaper circulation|circulation]] of ''The Nation'' is rising and was last placed at 184,296 (2004), more than double the center-left ''[[The New Republic]]'', and larger than the neoconservative ''[[The Weekly Standard]]'', and the conservative ''[[National Review]]''. ''The Nation'' has lost money in all but three or four years of operation and is sustained in part by a group of more than 30,000 donors called [[The Nation Associates]] who donate funds to the periodical above and beyond their annual subscription fees. The publisher and editor is [[Katrina vanden Heuvel]]. Former editors include [[Victor Navasky]], [[Norman Thomas]] (associate editor), [[Carey McWilliams (journalist)|Carey McWilliams]], and [[Freda Kirchwey]]. Notable contributors have included [[Albert Einstein]], [[Franz Boas]], [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Barbara Garson]], [[H. L. Mencken]], [[Gore Vidal]], [[Edward Said]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], [[Hunter S. Thompson]], [[Langston Hughes]], [[Ralph Nader]], [[Pat Buchanan]], [[James Baldwin (writer)|James Baldwin]], [[Clement Greenberg]], [[Tom Hayden]], [[Daniel Singer]], [[I.F. Stone]], [[Leon Trotsky]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[James K. Galbraith]], [[Joshua Kors]], [[John Steinbeck]], [[Frank Lloyd Wright]], [[Edward Witten]], [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] and [[John Beecher]]. ==Regular columns== *"Beat the Devil" by [[Alexander Cockburn]] *"The Liberal Media" by [[Eric Alterman]] *"Diary of a Mad Law Professor" by [[Patricia J. Williams]] *"Subject to Debate" by [[Katha Pollitt]] *"Beneath the Radar" by [[Gary Younge]] *"Look Out" by [[Naomi Klein]] *"Deadline Poet" by [[Calvin Trillin]] *The Nation [[cryptic crossword]] by Frank W. Lewis [[Christopher Hitchens]] wrote the column "Minority Report" for twenty years; he resigned in 2003 over the magazine's ongoing anti-war position in relation to the [[Iraq war]] and [[War on Terror]]. ==Notable recent events== [[David Corn]], ''The Nation'''s Washington Editor, broke the [[Valerie Plame]] leak scandal in the summer of 2003 in the pages of the magazine after noting that [[Robert Novak]]'s blowing of the CIA operative's cover in a newspaper column could be a possible [[felony]]. Former columnist [[Christopher Hitchens]] left in a widely publicized and vocal break with the magazine when it published a large number of letters from readers, who, Hitchens claimed, blamed the [[United States]] for the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]]. In March 2005, the publication's [[United Nations]] correspondent, Ian Williams, was the subject of adverse publicity for accepting money from the UN while covering it for ''The Nation''. [[Fox News Channel]], [[Accuracy in Media]] and [[FrontPage Magazine]] criticized Williams and the publication. Williams and ''The Nation'' denied wrongdoing. <ref>Alyssa A. Lappen, [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17373 Another U.N. Scandal], FrontPageMagazine.com March 16, 2005. Accessed 27 June 2006.<br /> Cliff Kincaid, [http://www.aim.org/special_report/2656_0_8_0_C/ Journalists Exposed on the U.N. Payroll; George Soros, Ted Turner Pay for Journalism Prizes], Accuracy in Media, February 15, 2005. Accessed 27 June 2006.<br /> [http://www.aim.org/press_release/2682_0_19_0_C/ U.N. Reporters Group May Have Violated U.S. Immigration Law], Accuracy in Media press release, February 22, 2005. Accessed 27 June 2006.</ref> In its [[November 28]], [[2005]] issue, ''The Nation'' issued an endorsement policy for political candidates that stated that they would only endorse candidates who oppose the war in Iraq. ==History== [[Abolitionists]] founded ''The Nation'' in July 1865 on "[[Newspaper Row]]" at 130 Nassau Street in [[Manhattan]]. At the time, Joseph H. Richards was the publisher and [[E.L. Godkin]], a [[classical liberal]] critic of [[nationalism]], [[imperialism]], and [[socialism]] <ref>Edwin L. Godkin, [http://praxeology.net/ELG-EL.htm The Eclipse of Liberalism], ''The Nation'', August 9, 1900. Reproduced on the site of the Molinari Institute, accessed 27 June 2006.</ref>, was the editor. The magazine would stay at Newspaper Row for the next ninety years. [[Wendell Phillips Garrison]], son of [[William Lloyd Garrison]], was literary editor of the periodical from 1865 to 1906. In 1881, newspaperman-turned-railroad-baron [[Henry Villard]] acquired ''The Nation'' and converted it into a weekly literary supplement for his daily newspaper the ''New York Evening Post''. The offices of the magazine were moved to the ''Evening Post'''s headquarters at 210 Broadway. The ''New York Evening Post'' would later morph into a tabloid: the ''[[New York Post]]'' was a left-leaning afternoon tabloid under owner [[Dorothy Schiff]] from 1939 to 1976, and has been a [[Conservatism|conservative]] tabloid owned by [[Rupert Murdoch]] since that time, while ''The Nation'' became known for its left-liberal politics. In 1918, Henry's Villard's son, [[Oswald Garrison Villard]], took over as editor of the magazine and sold the ''Evening Post''. He remade ''The Nation'' into a current affairs publication and gave it a [[Liberalism|liberal]] orientation. Villard's takeover of ''The Nation'' prompted a roughly 50 year monitoring of the magazine by the FBI. The FBI had a file on Villard since 1915. Almost every editor of ''The Nation'' from Villard's time to the 1970s was looked at for "subversive" activities and ties.<ref>Kimball, Penn. "The History of ''The Nation'' According to the FBI." ''The Nation''. 22 March 1986. Pg. 399-426.</ref> When [[Albert Jay Nock]], not long later, published a column criticizing [[Samuel Gompers]] and trade unions for being complicit in the [[war machine]] of the [[First World War]], ''The Nation'' was briefly suspended from the U.S. mail.<ref>{{cite journal| author = Wreszin, Michael | year = 1969 | title = Albert Jay Nock and the Anarchist Elitist Tradition in America | journal = [[American Quarterly]] | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 165–189 | doi = 10.2307/2711573}} p. 173. Wreszin remarks, "It was probably the only time any publication was suppressed in America for attacking a labor leader, but the suspension seemed to document Nock's charges."</ref> During the late 1940s and again in the early 1950s, a merger was discussed among Kirchwey - on ''The Nation'''s side (later McWilliams when he took over) - and [[Michael Straight]] of ''[[The New Republic]]''. The two magazines were very similar at that time - both were left of center (''The Nation'' further left than ''TNR''); both had circulations around 100,000 (''TNR'' had a slightly higher circulation); and both lost money - and it was thought that the two magazines could unite and make the most powerful journal of opinion. The new publication would have been called ''The Nation and New Republic''. Kirchwey was the most hesitant, and both attempts to merge failed. The two magazines would later take very different paths, with ''The Nation'' having a higher circulation and ''The New Republic'' moving more to the right.<ref>Navasky, Victor S. "The Merger that Wasn't." ''The Nation''. 1 January 1990.</ref> New ''Nation'' publisher [[Hamilton Fish V|Hamilton Fish]] and then-editor [[Victor Navasky]] moved the weekly to 72 [[Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)|Fifth Avenue]] in June 1979. In June 1998, the [[periodical]] had to move to make way for [[condominium]] development. The offices of ''The Nation'' are now at 33 Irving Place. ==Important Articles== *[[American Civil War|Civil War]] veteran and novelist [[John William De Forest]] contributed an article titled "The Great American Novel" (9 January 1868), calling for a uniquely American realist approach to literature. The idealization of capturing the national [[zeitgeist]] has since become a staple of [[American Literature]], with many authors stating that their ultimate goal is to write the [[Great American Novel]]. *''The Nation'' uncovered evidence of "torture and massacres" during the [[United States occupation of Haiti|occupation]] of [[Haiti]]. The article led to a Congressional investigation and the independence of Haiti. (Seligmann, Herbert J. "The Conquest of Haiti." ''The Nation''. 10 July 1920.) *The October 18, 1958, issue was dedicated entirely to [[Fred J. Cook|Fred J. Cook's]] exposé of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigations|FBI]]. (Cook, Fred J. "The FBI." ''The Nation''. 18 October 1958. Pg. 222-280.) *The June 24, 1961, issue was also dedicated to an article by Cook about the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]. (Cook, Fred J. "The CIA." ''The Nation''. 24 June 1961. Pg. 529-572.) *''The Nation'' was the first US publication to report on what would later become the [[Bay of Pigs invasion]]. (Editors. "Are We Training Cuban Guerrillas?" ''The Nation''. 19 November 1960. Pg. 378-379.) *A special report by Jamie Lincoln Kitman in the March 20, 2000, issue reported on efforts by [[Standard Oil]] (now [[ExxonMobil|Exxon]]), [[General Motors|GM]] and [[DuPont]] to cover up the dangers of lead additives (used for anti-knock purposes) in gas. (Lincoln Kitman, Jamie. "[http://www.thenation.com/doc/20000320/kitman The Secret History of Lead]." ''The Nation''. 20 March 2000. Pg. 11-44.) *A series of articles by Bill Mesler revealed that a projectile made of [[depleted uranium]] used in the first [[Gulf War|Iraq war]] was more radioactive, deadlier and affected more soldiers than [[the Pentagon]] admitted. (Mesler, Bill. "The Pentagon's Radioactive Bullet." ''The Nation''. 21 October 1996. Pg. 11-14.; "Pentagon Poison: The Great Radioactive Ammo Cover-Up." ''The Nation''. 26 May 1997. Pg. 17-22.; "The Gulf War's New Casualties." ''The Nation''. 14 July 1997. Pg. 19-20.) *''The Nation'' has revealed relationships between [[Nazi Germany]] and several corporations - including [[Bertelsmann]], [[Ford Motor Company]], and [[Eastman Kodak|Kodak]]. (Silverstein, Ken. "[http://www.thenation.com/doc/20000124/silverstein Ford and the Führer]." ''The Nation''. 24 January 2000. Pg. 11-16.; Fischler, Hersch. Friedman, John. "Bertelsmann's Nazi Past." ''The Nation''. 28 December 1998. Pg. 6-7.; Friedman, John S. "[http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010326/friedman Kodak's Nazi Connection]." ''The Nation''. 26 March 2001. Pg. 7, 23.) *''The Nation'' printed several articles about the [[Whitewater (controversy)|Whitewater]] investigation against [[Bill Clinton]] including an article revealing a conflict of interest involving [[Kenneth Starr]] and the Resolution Trust Corporation. (Conason, Joe. Waas, Murray. "Troubled Whitewater." ''The Nation''. 18 March 1996. Pg. 13-18. Graves, Florence. "Starr and Willey: The Untold Story." ''The Nation''. 17 May 1999. Pg. 11-23. Dreyfuss, Roberts. "Collateral Damage: The Personal Costs of Starr's Investigation." ''The Nation''. 27 July/3 August 1998. Pg. 11-18.) *Columnist Naomi Klein wrote an article that revealed a conflict of interest concerning [[James Baker|James A. Baker III]], who was appointed envoy to Iraq and was in charge of handling their national debt. (Klein, Naomi. "[http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041101/klein The Double Life of James Baker]." ''The Nation''. 1 November 2004. Pg. 13-20.) *Freelance reporter Joseph Kors conducted a six month investigation into the discharging of soldiers from the military by misdiagnosing them with "personality disorder." Because personality disorder is a pre-existing condition, these soldiers are given no benefits or future health coverage through the military, and, in some cases, forced to give back their enlistment bonus. (Kors, Joseph. "[http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070409/kors How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits]." ''The Nation''. 9 April 2006. Pg. 11-18.) *In the December 20th, 1919 edition, ''The Nation'' published a letter from famed anthropologist [[Franz Boas]] in which he criticized four then-unnamed anthropologists for their actions acting as spies in South America for the American government. This action was highly significant in the anthropological community, as it was the first public act in opposition to this type of activity by anthropologists. The composition and subsequent publication of this letter resulted in the censure of Mr. Boas by the [[American Anthropological Association]], and his removal from the AAA's governing council. (Boas, Franz. "Scientists as Spies." ''The Nation''. 20 December 1919. Pg. 797.) ==Mission== According to ''The Nation'''s founding prospectus of 1865, "''The Nation'' will not be the organ of any party, sect, or body. It will, on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred." ==Editorial Board== [[Deepak Bhargava]], [[Norman Birnbaum]], [[Barbara Ehrenreich]], [[Richard Falk]], [[Frances FitzGerald]], [[Eric Foner]], [[Philip Green (author)|Philip Green]], [[Lani Guinier]], [[Tom Hayden]], [[Randall Kennedy]], [[Tony Kushner]], [[Elinor Langer]], [[Deborah Meier]], [[Toni Morrison]], [[Victor Navasky]], [[Pedro Antonio Noguera]], [[Richard Parker]], [[Michael Pertschuk]], [[Elizabeth Pochoda]], [[Marcus G. Raskin]], [[Andrea Batista Schlesinger]], [[David Weir (journalist)|David Weir]], and [[Roger Wilkins]]. ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.thenation.com ''The Nation'' website] *[http://www.thenation.com/archive/ ''The Nation'' digital archive] *[http://www.thenation.com/about/ ''The Nation'' masthead] [[Category:American political magazines|Nation]] [[Category:The Nation (U.S. periodical) people]] [[Category:Publications established in 1865|Nation]] [[Category:Modern liberal American magazines]] [[Category:Weekly magazines]] [[de:The Nation (USA)]] [[eo:The Nation]] [[fr:The Nation]] [[fi:The Nation]] [[sv:The Nation]]