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''Pacific Standard'', founded as ''Miller–McCune'', was an American nonprofit
magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
that reported on issues of social and
environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...
. Founded in 2008, the magazine was published in print and online for its first ten years. It was published by The Social Justice Foundation, headquartered in
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
. On August 16, 2019, a week after its primary funder backed away, it posted its last new article.


History

''Miller–McCune'' was launched in 2008 by Sara Miller McCune, the founder and head of
SAGE Publications Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park neighborhood of Thousand Oaks, California. Sage ...
. It was named one of the year's "hottest launches" by ''MIN'' magazine and received the same honor from ''
Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
'' the following year. It also received the 2008–2009
Society of Environmental Journalists The Society of Environmental Journalists is a non-profit national journalism organization created by and for journalists who report environmental topics in the news media. On its website, the organization says that "SEJ’s mission is to strengt ...
Award for Outstanding Explanatory Journalism and the
Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne''; , ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...
Independent Press Award 2009 for science/technology coverage. In 2010, ''Miller McCune'' was named by ''Folio'' magazine to the FOLIO: 40 list of publishing innovators: "At a time when print is becoming a secondary product for many publishers (in mindset if not revenue), ''Miller–McCune'' is succeeding with long-form journalism." The magazine was created for opinion leaders, policymakers, and concerned citizens who are interested in developing solutions to some of the world's toughest social and environmental problems. Its target readers are "influentials" who read ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'', ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'', ''Mother Jones'', and ''Wired'', but former editor-in-chief Streshinsky differentiated ''Pacific Standard'' by focusing on the behavioral and social sciences. Mediabistro, Retrieved July 23, 2014 In an interview, Streshinsky said:
... we're also committed to producing old-fashioned, well-told, deeply reported magazine journalism on subjects and characters of national interest or curiosity—we just want to do it in a way that is especially steeped in the relevant research literature and intellectual context. We value great storytelling and cogent analysis as much as anyone else on the block. And we love "conceptual scoops"—the kind of piece that can powerfully, sharply, and accurately reframe the reader's understanding of an important, complex subject.
In 2010, the magazine launched Miller–McCune LIVE, a special events program to bring articles to life through comprehensive debate featuring industry leaders. The first debate, on lobbying, took place in September in Washington, D.C. The second debate was held in New York City in November with panelists Sree Sreenivasan and Rachel Sklar, who dug into the effects of social media on "real life" and ways to humanize the Internet. In-depth pieces include stories, such as "Native Environmentalism and the Alberta Oil Boom", "Global Warming: the Archaeological Frontier", "When Facebook Is Your Medical Record", and "Art and Alzheimer's: Another Way of Remembering", the story of Hilda Goldblatt Gorenstein (Hilgos), and the documentary ''
I Remember Better When I Paint ''I Remember Better When I Paint'' is a feature length international documentary film about the positive impact of art and other creative therapies in people with Alzheimer's disease and how these approaches can change the way the disease is view ...
''.


Transition to ''Pacific Standard''

In April 2011, editor John Mecklin announced his resignation, citing "creative differences" among other reasons. On May 17, the organization announced that Maria Streshinsky, former managing editor of ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'' magazine, would become the editor-in-chief of the magazine. In February 2012, Miller–McCune announced that the magazine's name would be changed to ''Pacific Standard'' as of the May–June 2012 edition. In a May 2012 interview, Streshinsky said that the publication's new name reflected its taking a "western" perspective: "We want to tell the nationally important stories that are coming out of this side of the country, and from the edges of the Pacific.... So many of the nation's biggest shifts have come from the West, and we want to showcase that." ''Journalists Resource'', Retrieved May 15, 2012 , the magazine enjoyed its largest website traffic month ever. It continues to get most of its funding from SAGE Publications, with much smaller amounts from subscription, newsstand, and website revenue. In 2014, ''Pacific Standard'' was nominated for its first-ever
National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
, presented by the
American Society of Magazine Editors The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is an industry trade group for magazine journalists and editors of magazines published in the United States. ASME includes the editorial leaders of most major consumer magazine in print and digital ...
, in the category of General Excellence for Literature, Science and Politics Magazines. In 2015, digital director Nicholas Jackson was appointed editor-in-chief, and senior editor Ryan Jacobs was appointed deputy editor. They quickly brought on creative director Taylor Le and executive editor Jennifer Sahn. Jackson repositioned the magazine to tell "stories that matter," focusing most heavily on social and environmental justice. In 2017, the magazine was honored with its second National Magazine Award. Also in 2017, ''Pacific Standard nonprofit parent changed its name from the Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media, and Public Policy to The Social Justice Foundation.


Demise

Production of the print edition ceased in 2018 and it transitioned to an online-only format. On August 7, 2019, Nicholas Jackson, editor-in-chief, stated on Twitter that ''Pacific Standard'' was to close after its primary funder abruptly cut off all funding. On August 16, 2019,''Pacific Standard'' posted its final new online story. On June 2, 2020, the CEO of Grist Magazine, Inc, Brady Walkinshaw, announced that the company had bought the ''Pacific Standard'' and would be maintaining an online archive of the defunct magazines' articles.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Monthly magazines published in the United States Science and technology magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States English-language magazines Environmental magazines Magazines established in 2008 Magazines disestablished in 2018 Magazines published in California