''The Spotlight'' was a weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

in the United States, published in Washington, D.C. from September 1975 to July 2001 by the now-defunct

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

Liberty Lobby. ''The Spotlight'' ran articles and editorials professing a "

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

" political orientation. Some observers have described the publication as promoting a

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

, or conservative, politics.

Description

''The Spotlight'' has been described in media reports as promoting an America First position and giving positive coverage to the political campaigns of

Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, ...

and David Duke. ''The Spotlight'' gave frequent coverage to

complementary and alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and al ...

, including advertisements for the purported anti-

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

supplement Laetrile. Kevin J. Flynn's book ''The Silent Brotherhood'' described ''The Spotlight'' as regularly featuring "articles on such topics as

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

analysis, taxes and fighting the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

, bankers and how they bleed the middle class, and how the nation is manipulated by the dreaded

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

and

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

", adding "the paper attracted a huge diversity of readers". NameBase described the newspaper as "anti-elitist, opposed the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, wanted the JFK assassination reinvestigated, and felt that corruption and conspiracies can be found in high places"

Circulation

Circulation of ''The Spotlight'' peaked in 1981 at 315,000 but fell to about 90,000 by 1992.

Critical reaction

''The Spotlight'' was called "the most widely read publication on the fringe right" by the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

, who also stated the newspaper "reflected Carto's

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

of history" and called the paper

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

.Willis Carto
, Anti-Defamation League website, accessed 4 May 2010 Howard J. Ruff in his 1979 book ''How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years'' praised ''The Spotlight'' for its investigative reporting while criticizing it for a "blatantly biased" right-wing point of view and concluded "there are many things I detest about it, but I wouldn't be without it." U.S. Congressman and

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas. T ...

leader Larry McDonald criticized ''The Spotlight'' in the ''

Congressional Record The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Inde ...

'' in 1981 for purported use of the Lyndon LaRouche movement as a source of news items.

Controversies

Lawsuit by E. Howard Hunt

On August 14, 1978, ''The Spotlight'' published an article by

Victor Marchetti Victor Leo Marchetti Jr. (December 23, 1929 – October 19, 2018) was a special assistant to the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency who later became a prominent critic of the United States Intelligence Community and the Israel l ...

linking former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

agent and

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continu ...

figure E. Howard Hunt to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Headlined "CIA to Nail Hunt for Kennedy Killing", the article said: "In the public hearings f a pending Congressional hearing the CIA will 'admit' that Hunt was involved in the conspiracy to kill Kennedy." It also claimed that the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations had received an internal CIA memo from 1966 that stated the agency "will have to explain Hunt's presence in Dallas on November 22, 1963". Stating that he was libeled by the accusations, Hunt sued the Liberty Lobby for $3.5 million in

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

in a federal court in Miami in 1981; Marchetti was not named as a defendant. Hunt, represented by attorney Ellis Rubin, said that he suffered a $27,000 drop in income after the article was published. He also said that he was in Washington, D.C., on the day that Kennedy was killed. Miles McGrane, the attorney for Liberty Lobby stated that Liberty Lobby did not believe that Hunt was involved in the assassination, but that he was going to be made a

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...

by the CIA. On December 17, 1981, the jury found in Hunt's favor and awarded him $650,000 in damages. The decision was later overturned due to an error in jury instructions. In the second trial, Hunt was represented by Baltimore attorney William Snyder. Hunt testified that he was in Washington, D.C., with his wife and son when he first heard of the assassination. Snyder told the jury that Hunt had already been cleared in the assassination by various commissions and inquiries. Attorney Mark Lane, author of '' Rush to Judgment'' and a leading proponent of the theory that the CIA was responsible for the assassination of Kennedy, represented Liberty Lobby. Lane successfully defended Liberty Lobby against the defamation charges, which became the basis for Lane's book ''

Plausible Denial ''Plausible Denial: Was the CIA Involved in the Assassination of JFK?'' is a 1991 book by American attorney, Mark Lane that outlines his theory that former Watergate figure E. Howard Hunt was involved with the Central Intelligence Agency in the ...

''.

Lawsuit by the National Review

In 1985, the ''

National Review ''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 ...

'' and its editor, William F. Buckley Jr., were represented by attorney

J. Daniel Mahoney John Daniel Mahoney (September 7, 1931 – October 23, 1996) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Education and career Born in Orange, New Jersey, Mahoney received a Bachelor of Arts de ...

during their $16 million libel suit against ''The Spotlight''.

Timothy McVeigh

After the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-government extremists, Timothy McVeigh and T ...

it was reported that Timothy McVeigh had taken out a classified advertisement in ''The Spotlight'' in August 1993 under the name "T. Tuttle" and had used a

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purchased from the newspaper.

End of publication

''The Spotlight'' ceased publication in 2001 after Liberty Lobby was forced into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

as a result of a lawsuit brought by former associates in the Institute for Historical Review. Willis Carto and other people involved in ''The Spotlight'' then started a new newspaper, the ''

American Free Press The ''American Free Press'' is a weekly newspaper published in the United States. The newspaper's direct ancestor was ''The Spotlight'', which ceased publication in 2001 when its parent organization, Liberty Lobby, was forced into bankruptcy. One ...

'', which is very similar in overall tone. An August 2, 2002 court order in the Superior Court of California transferred the assets of Liberty Lobby, including ''The Spotlight'', to the judgment creditor, the Legion for the Survival of Freedom, Inc. who maintains an online archive of ''Spotlight'' articles from 1997 to 2001.

Other activities

From 1988 to 2001, the paper sponsored the ''Radio Free America'' talk show which was heard on WWCR

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and on AM

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

outlets.

References

External links

Implausible Assertions: Did Mark Lane Convince a Jury that E. Howard Hunt was a Kennedy Assassination Conspirator?Sample articles from ''The SPOTLIGHT'' by Liberty Lobby, 1997 to 2001.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spotlight Defunct newspapers published in Washington, D.C. Defunct weekly newspapers Newspapers established in 1975 Publications disestablished in 2001 Weekly newspapers published in the United States Far-right publications in the United States