ZNetwork, formerly known as Z Communications, is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

activist-oriented media group founded in 1986 by

Michael Albert Michael Albert (born April 8, 1947) is an American economist, speaker, writer, and political critic. Since the late 1970s, he has published on a variety of subjects. He has set up his own media outfits, magazines, and podcasts. He is known for ...

and Lydia Sargent.Max Elbaum
''Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che''
London, England, UK; New York, New York, US: Verso, 2002. p. 296. It is, in broad terms, ideologically

libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other ...

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

, and heavily influenced by

participatory economics Participatory economics, often abbreviated parecon, is an economic system based on participatory decision making as the primary economic mechanism for allocation in society. In the system, the say in decision-making is proportional to the impa ...

, although much of its content is focused on critical commentary of foreign affairs. Its publications include ''Z Magazine'', ''ZNet'', and ''Z Video''. Since early November 2022, they have all been regrouped under the name ''ZNetwork''.

History

''Zeta Magazine'' was founded by Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent in 1987, both of whom had previously co-founded

South End Press South End Press was a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 in Boston's South End. It published books written by political activists, notably Arundhati Roy, Noam Chomsky, bell hooks, Win ...

. It was renamed ''Z Magazine'' in 1989. Founded in 1994, Z Media Institute provides classes and other sessions in how to start and produce

alternative media Alternative media are media sources that differ from established forms of media, such as mainstream media or mass media, in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publica ...

, how to better understand media, and how to develop organising skills. The institute has hosted Stephen Shalom presentations on

parpolity Stephen Rosskamm Shalom is a professor of political science at William Paterson University where he has taught since 1977. He is a writer on social and political issues and is a contributor to Znet and '' Democratic Left''. He is on the editorial ...

a number of times. Founded in 1995, ZNet (also known as ''ZNet'', ''ZNetwork'' and ''Z Communications'') is a

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

with contributors that include

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

Eduardo Galeano Eduardo Germán María Hughes Galeano (; 3 September 1940 – 13 April 2015) was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "a literary giant of the Latin American left" and "global soccer's pre-eminent man of le ...

Boris Kagarlitsky } Boris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky (; born 29 August 1958) is a Russian Marxism, Marxist Political philosophy, theoretician and sociology, sociologist who has been a Dissident, political dissident in the Soviet Union and the Russia, Russian Federation. ...

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...

, Chris Spannos and Kevin Zeese. John Pilger described it as one of the best news sources online. Rene Milan of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies called the site a rich source of information about participism.

Publications and authors

''Z Magazine'' is published in print and on-line monthly. Contributors to the magazine have included Patrick Bond

Ward Churchill Ward LeRoy Churchill (born October 2, 1947) is an American activist, author, and former academic. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1990 until 2007.

, Alexander Cockburn, Edward S. Herman,

bell hooks Gloria Jean Watkins (September 25, 1952 – December 15, 2021), better known by her pen name bell hooks (stylized in lowercase), was an American author, theorist, educator, and social critic who was a Distinguished Professor in Residence at Be ...

, Mike Kuhlenbeck, Staughton Lynd, John Ross, Juliet Schor, Holly Sklar,

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...

, Kevin Zeese and

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn ...

. Articles written by Chomsky have been republished in the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

''.

Criticism

In a 2005 interview with Joshua Frank, Ward Churchill discussed issues he had with ''Z Magazine''. Churchill claimed an article he worked on was not published for two years and was misattributed. He also felt Albert and Sargent had greater influence than others involved with the publication. In 2012,

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is an English journalist, author, and Environmental movement, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and has written several books. Monbiot ...

criticized the site's defence of the book ''The Politics of Genocide'' by Edward S. Herman and David Peterson, which he said had been called a work of

genocide denial Genocide denial is the attempt to deny or minimize the scale and severity of an instance of genocide. Denial is an integral part of genocide and includes the secret planning of genocide, propaganda while the genocide is going on, and destruction ...

by scholars he had consulted such as Martin Shaw.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://znetwork.org/ Political magazines published in the United States Alternative magazines Monthly magazines published in the United States 1987 establishments in the United States Publishing collectives Magazines established in 1987 Communications and media organizations based in the United States Organizations based in Massachusetts Magazines published in Massachusetts

History

Publications and authors

Criticism

See also

References

External links