''The Weekly Standard'' was an American

neoconservative Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and count ...

political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "redoubt of neoconservatism" and as "the neocon bible." Its founding publisher,

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

, debuted the title on September 18, 1995. In 2009, News Corporation sold the magazine to a subsidiary of

the Anschutz Corporation The Anschutz Corporation is an American private holding company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, United States.

. On December 14, 2018, its owners announced that the magazine was ceasing publication, with the last issue published on December 17. Sources attribute its demise to an increasing divergence between Kristol and other editors' shift towards anti-Trump positions, and the magazine's audience's shift towards

Trumpism Trumpism is a term for the political ideologies, social emotions, style of governance, political movement, and set of mechanisms for acquiring and keeping control of power associated with Donald Trump and his political base. '' Trumpists ...

. Many of the magazine's articles were written by members of

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

think tanks located in Washington, including the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...

, the

Ethics and Public Policy Center The Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) is a conservative, Washington, D.C.-based think tank and advocacy group. Founded in 1976, the group describes itself as "dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of pu ...

, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the Hudson Institute, and the Foreign Policy Initiative. Individuals who wrote for the magazine included

Elliott Abrams Elliott Abrams (born January 24, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer, who has served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. Abrams is considered to be a neoconservative. He is current ...

, Peter Berkowitz,

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Sta ...

, Ellen Bork, David Brooks, Gertrude Himmelfarb,

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

Harvey Mansfield Harvey Claflin Mansfield Jr. (born March 21, 1932) is an American political philosophy, political philosopher. He is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1962. He has held Guggenheim F ...

, Cynthia Ozick, Joe Queenan, and John Yoo. The magazine's website also produced regular online-only commentaries and news articles. The site's editorial stance was described as neoconservative.

History

The ''Standard'' was viewed as heavily influential during the administration of president George W. Bush (2001-2009), being called the in-flight magazine of Air Force One. In 2003, although the magazine's circulation was only 55,000, Kristol said that "We have a funny relationship with the top tier of the administration. They very much keep us at arm's length, but ice President Dick Cheney does send over someone to pick up 30 copies of the magazine every Monday." In 2006, though the publication had never been profitable and reputedly lost more than a million dollars a year, News Corporation head

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

initially dismissed the idea of selling it. Subsequently, in June 2009, a report circulated that a sale of the publication to Philip Anschutz was imminent, with Murdoch's position being that, having since purchased ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' in 2007, his interest in the smaller publication had diminished. ''

The Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ...

'' reported that month that the ''Examiner''s parent company, the Anschutz-owned

Clarity Media Group The Anschutz Corporation is an American private holding company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, United States.BPA statements. Its print circulation of about 100,000 in 2013 had decreased to 72,000 by 2017, according to the BPA, with circulation dropping about 10 percent between 2016 and 2017. In late 2016, Kristol ended his time as editor-in-chief. He was replaced by Stephen Hayes, the magazine's senior writer. Under Hayes' leadership, the ''Standard'' continued to be as critical of Donald Trump as it had been under Kristol; Trump's supporters in turn criticized the ''Standard'', and the magazine's influence in Republican circles dwindled. In December 2017, ''The Weekly Standard'' became an official fact-checking partner for

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

. On December 14, 2018, Clarity Media Group announced that it would cease publication of the magazine after 23 years. While some speculated that the closure of ''The Weekly Standard'' was so Clarity Media's other magazine, the ''

Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is o ...

'', could absorb the ''Standard''s subscribers, a statement from Clarity Media Group chairman Ryan McKibben said that such speculation was incorrect. Kristol attributed the magazine's demise to the hostility of supporters of the

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

administration.

Support of the invasion of Iraq

The ''Standard'' promoted and supported the invasion of Iraq to remove

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

. In November 1997 Bill Kristol and

Robert Kagan Robert Kagan (; born September 26, 1958) is an American neoconservative scholar, critic of U.S. foreign policy, and a leading advocate of liberal interventionism. A co-founder of the neoconservative Project for the New American Century, he is a ...

wrote an editorial titled "Saddam Must Go", in which they stated "We know it seems unthinkable to propose another ground attack to take Baghdad. But it's time to start thinking the unthinkable." In the first issue the magazine published after 9/11, according to Scott McConnell of '' The American Conservative'', "

Gary Schmitt Gary James Schmitt (born 1952) is an American political scientist who is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Early life and education Schmitt graduated from the University of Dallas in 1974 with a B.A. in Politics and the Univ ...

and Tom Donnelly, two employees of Kristol’s PNAC, clarified what ought to be the country’s war aims. Their rhetoric was to link Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden in virtually every paragraph, to join them at the hip in the minds of readers, and then to lay out a strategy that actually gave attacking Saddam priority over eliminating al-Qaeda." On December 16, 2018, co-founder and contributing editor John Podhoretz defended the coverage answering the question by Lulu Garcia-Navarro on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

: "Do you regret the coverage of Iraq War?" saying "I think, basically, what—all a magazine—editors, writers—can promise is that they will be honest and say what they mean and think and argue the best way that they can. And with the facts available at the time, that is what The ''Standard'' did."

Libel case

In 1997, nearly a year after a cover story that included allegations of hiring a prostitute and plagiarism against best-selling author Deepak Chopra, the editors of ''The Weekly Standard'' accepted full responsibility for the errors in the story, and apologized." Chopra claimed that the magazine settled for $1.6 million.The Art of the Spiritual Smackdown
,

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

, Stephen Lemons, March 7, 2000. Retrieved October 12, 2014.

Notable personnel

Editorial staff

* Stephen F. Hayes, Editor-in-Chief * Bill Kristol, Editor at large * Fred Barnes, Executive Editor * Christopher Caldwell, Andrew Ferguson,

Lee Smith Lee Smith is the name of: Arts, entertainment and media *Lee Smith (fiction author) (born 1944), American author of fiction * Lee Smith (film editor) (born 1960), Australian film editor * Lee Smith (musician) (born 1983), American drummer * Lee Sm ...

, Philip Terzian, Senior Editors * Jonathan V. Last, Digital Editor *

Matt Labash Matthew John "Matt" Labash (born 1970 or 1971) is an American author and journalist who writes the Slack Tide newsletter. He was a senior writer, and later a national correspondent at ''The Weekly Standard'', where his articles frequently appeare ...

, Senior Writer

Contributing editors

Max Boot Max Alexandrovich Boot (born September 12, 1969) is an American author, consultant, editorialist, lecturer, and military historian. He worked as a writer and editor for ''Christian Science Monitor'' and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' in the ...

* Joseph Bottum *

Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American television host, conservative political commentator and writer who has hosted the nightly political talk show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News since 2016. Carlson began ...

* Matthew Continetti * Joseph Epstein *

David Frum David Jeffrey Frum (; born June 30, 1960) is a Canadian-American political commentator and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, who is currently a senior editor at ''The Atlantic'' as well as an MSNBC contributor. In 2003, Frum a ...

* David Gelernter *

Reuel Marc Gerecht Reuel Marc Gerecht is an American writer and political analyst focused on the Middle East. He is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, focusing primarily on the Middle East, Islamic militancy, counterterrorism, and intell ...

* Michael Goldfarb *

Mary Katharine Ham Mary Katharine Ham (born April 5, 1980) is an American journalist. She is a contributing editor for Townhall Magazine, a writer at ''The Federalist'', and a CNN contributor. She previously worked as a Fox News contributor and an editor-at-larg ...

Brit Hume Alexander Britton Hume (born June 22, 1943), known professionally as Brit Hume, is an American journalist and political commentator. Hume had a 23-year career with ABC News, where he contributed to ''World News Tonight with Peter Jennings'', ''N ...

* Frederick Kagan *

* Charles Krauthammer * Tod Lindberg * Rob Messenger * P. J. O'Rourke * John Podhoretz * Irwin Stelzer

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weekly Standard, The 1995 establishments in Washington, D.C. 2018 disestablishments in the United States Anschutz Corporation Defunct political magazines published in the United States Conservative magazines published in the United States Magazines disestablished in 2018 Magazines established in 1995 Magazines published in Washington, D.C. Neoconservatism News magazines published in the United States Weekly magazines published in the United States