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==Controversies==
==Controversies==
In June 2000, under the otherwise reliable leadership of [[Lewis H. Lapham|Lewis Lapham]], ''Harper's'' enabled the great [[neoliberal]] Bill Clinton to take his meaty hand to its anniversary edition.

In his essay "Tentacles of rage: The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history," published in the September 2004 issue, [[Lewis H. Lapham]] fictionalized his reportage of the [[2004 Republican National Convention]], which had yet to occur. He apologized in a note.<ref>Shafer, Jack. "[http://www.slate.com/id/2106548 Lewis Lapham Phones It In: Figuring out what's wrong with Harper's magazine]." ''Slate'' 15 September 2004.</ref><ref>Lapham, Lewis H. "[http://harpers.org/archive/2004/09/0080196 Tentacles of rage: The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history]." ''Harper's'' September 2004. p. 43-53.</ref>
In his essay "Tentacles of rage: The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history," published in the September 2004 issue, [[Lewis H. Lapham]] fictionalized his reportage of the [[2004 Republican National Convention]], which had yet to occur. He apologized in a note.<ref>Shafer, Jack. "[http://www.slate.com/id/2106548 Lewis Lapham Phones It In: Figuring out what's wrong with Harper's magazine]." ''Slate'' 15 September 2004.</ref><ref>Lapham, Lewis H. "[http://harpers.org/archive/2004/09/0080196 Tentacles of rage: The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history]." ''Harper's'' September 2004. p. 43-53.</ref>


The March 2006 issue contained the critical [[Celia Farber]] report, ''Out of Control: AIDS and the Corruption of Medical Science'', presenting [[Peter Duesberg]]'s [[AIDS denialism|theory that HIV does not cause AIDS]].<ref>{{cite book
The March 2006 issue contained the [[Celia Farber]] reportage, ''Out of Control: AIDS and the Corruption of Medical Science'', presenting [[Peter Duesberg]]'s [[AIDS denialism|theory that HIV does not cause AIDS]].<ref>{{cite book
| url = http://harpers.org/OutOfControl.html | title = Out Of Control, AIDS and the corruption of medical science | last = Farber | first = Celia | publisher = [[Harper's|Harper's Magazine]] | date = 2006-03-01 | accessdate = 2006-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/13/business/media/13harpers.html | title = An Article in Harper's Ignites a Controversy Over H.I.V. | publisher = The New York Times | last = Miller | first = Lia | date = 2006-03-13 | accessdate = 2006-03-13}}</ref> It was strongly criticized by AIDS activists,<ref>{{cite book
| url = http://harpers.org/OutOfControl.html | title = Out Of Control, AIDS and the corruption of medical science | last = Farber | first = Celia | publisher = [[Harper's|Harper's Magazine]] | date = 2006-03-01 | accessdate = 2006-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/13/business/media/13harpers.html | title = An Article in Harper's Ignites a Controversy Over H.I.V. | publisher = The New York Times | last = Miller | first = Lia | date = 2006-03-13 | accessdate = 2006-03-13}}</ref> It was strongly criticized by AIDS activists,<ref>{{cite book
| url = http://www.poz.com/articles/401_2710.shtml | accessdate = 2006-03-13 | title = Farber Feedback | publisher = POZ Magazine}}</ref> scientists,<ref>[http://www.aidstruth.org/harper-farber.php Letters from scientists and physicians criticizing Harper's for poor fact-checking of Celia Farber's article on AIDS.] Accessed 21 Oct 2006.</ref> and the ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'',<ref>[http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/harpers_races_right_over_the_e.php?page=1 Harper's Races Right over the Edge of a Cliff], by Gal Beckerman. Published in the ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'' on March 8, 2006. Accessed June 14, 2007.</ref> as inaccurate and for promoting a theory that did not conform to the institutional consensus.<ref>{{cite book
| url = http://www.poz.com/articles/401_2710.shtml | accessdate = 2006-03-13 | title = Farber Feedback | publisher = POZ Magazine}}</ref> scientists,<ref>[http://www.aidstruth.org/harper-farber.php Letters from scientists and physicians criticizing Harper's for poor fact-checking of Celia Farber's article on AIDS.] Accessed 21 Oct 2006.</ref> the ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'',<ref>[http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/harpers_races_right_over_the_e.php?page=1 Harper's Races Right over the Edge of a Cliff], by Gal Beckerman. Published in the ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'' on March 8, 2006. Accessed June 14, 2007.</ref> and others, as inaccurate and for promoting a scientifically-discredited theory.<ref>{{cite book
| url = http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=65330 | title = Harper's Publishes AIDS Denialist | last = Kim | first = Richard | date = 2006-03-02 | accessdate = 2006-03-13}}</ref> The [[Treatment Action Campaign]], a South African organization working for greater popular access to HIV treatments, posted a response by eight (8) researchers alleging more than fifty errors in the article.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.tac.org.za/Documents/ErrorsInFarberArticle.pdf |format=PDF| title = Errors in Celia Farber's March 2006 article in Harper's Magazine | last = Gallo | first = Robert | coauthors = Nathan Geffen, Gregg Gonsalves, Richard Jeffreys, Daniel R. Kuritzkes, Bruce Mirken, John P. Moore, Jeffrey T. Safrit | publisher = Treatment Action Campaign | date = 2006-03-04 | accessdate = 2006-03-13}}</ref> The author and magazine defended their facts and their reporting, and maintained that the conflict was political and institutional.
| url = http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=65330 | title = Harper's Publishes AIDS Denialist | last = Kim | first = Richard | date = 2006-03-02 | accessdate = 2006-03-13}}</ref> The [[Treatment Action Campaign]], a South African organization working for greater popular access to HIV treatments, posted a response by eight researchers documenting more than fifty errors in the article.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.tac.org.za/Documents/ErrorsInFarberArticle.pdf |format=PDF| title = Errors in Celia Farber's March 2006 article in Harper's Magazine | last = Gallo | first = Robert | coauthors = Nathan Geffen, Gregg Gonsalves, Richard Jeffreys, Daniel R. Kuritzkes, Bruce Mirken, John P. Moore, Jeffrey T. Safrit | publisher = Treatment Action Campaign | date = 2006-03-04 | accessdate = 2006-03-13}}</ref>


In summer of 2006, ''Harper's'' serially published [[J. Robert Lennon|John Robert Lennon]]'s novel ''[[Happyland (novel)|Happyland]]'' when its original publisher, [[W. W. Norton]], decided not to publish it, fearing a libel lawsuit. The protagonist is doll magnate Happy Masters, whose story parallels the life of [[Pleasant Rowland]], the creator of the [[American Girl (company)|American Girl]] doll business.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/books/review/Donadio.t.html NYT Book Review]</ref>
In summer of 2006, ''Harper's'' serially published [[J. Robert Lennon|John Robert Lennon]]'s novel ''[[Happyland (novel)|Happyland]]'' when its original publisher, [[W. W. Norton]], decided not to publish it, fearing a libel lawsuit. The protagonist is doll magnate Happy Masters, whose story parallels the life of [[Pleasant Rowland]], the creator of the [[American Girl (company)|American Girl]] doll business.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/books/review/Donadio.t.html NYT Book Review]</ref>

With the departure of Lapham, ''Harper's'' became far, far less accommodating to progressive social scientists in its journalistic approach (a sort of non-rightwing ''Atlantic Monthly''), and far, far more apt to publish literature only interpretable by a high priesthood of five or six Ivy League English Dept. PhD candidates, hence earning it a reputation amongst the newly-disgruntled social scientists as "an [[Phillips Exeter Academy|Exeter]] boy's ''[[McSweeney's]]''." However, the quality of artwork was acknowledged as remaining high.


==Notable contributors==
==Notable contributors==

Revision as of 14:10, 2 August 2010

Harper's
November 2004 issue
EditorEllen Rosenbush
CategoriesArt, culture, literature, politics
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation220,000
First issue1850
CompanyHarper's Magazine Foundation
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.harpers.org
ISSN0017-789X
An issue of Harper's from 1905

Harper's Magazine (also called Harper's) is a monthly, general-interest magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. It is the second-oldest, continuously-published monthly magazine (Scientific American is the oldest) in the U.S.; current circulation is more than 220,000 issues. The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010. Harper's Magazine has won many National Magazine Awards.[1]

History

Harper's Magazine was launched as Harper's New Monthly Magazine in June 1850, by the New York City publisher Harper & Brothers; who also founded Harper's Bazaar magazine, later growing to become HarperCollins Publishing. The first press run, of 7,500 copies, sold out almost immediately; circulation was some 50,000 issues six months later.[2]

The early issues reprinted material already published in England, but the magazine soon was publishing the work of American artists and writers, and in time commentary by the likes of Winston Churchill and Woodrow Wilson.

In 1962, Harper & Brothers merged with Row, Peterson & Company, becoming Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). In 1965, the magazine was separately incorporated, and became a division of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company, owned by the Cowles Media Company.

In the 1970s, Harper's published Seymour Hersh's reporting of the My Lai massacre. In 1971, editor Willie Morris resigned under pressure from owner John Cowles, Jr., prompting resignations from many of the magazine’s star contributors and staffers, including Norman Mailer, David Halberstam, Robert Kotlowitz, Marshall Frady and Larry L. King:

Morris’s departure jolted the literary world. Mailer, William Styron, Gay Talese, Bill Moyers, and Tom Wicker declared that they would boycott Harper’s as long as the Cowles family owned it, and the four staff writers hired by Morris—Frady among them—resigned in solidarity with him.”

— Scott Sherman "The Unvanquished," Nov/Dec, 2007. Columbia Journalism Review[3]

Robert Shnayerson, a senior editor at TIME magazine, was subsequently hired to replace Morris as Harper's ninth editor, serving in that position from 1971 until 1976.[4][5]

John R Chapin's rendering of the Great Chicago Fire, printed in Harper's Weekly

Lewis H. Lapham served as managing editor from 1976 until 1981; he returned to the position again from 1983 until 2006. On June 17, 1980, the Star Tribune announced it would cease publishing Harper's Magazine after the August 1980 issue; however, on July 9, 1980, John R. MacArthur and his father, Roderick, obtained pledges from the directorial boards of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Atlantic Richfield Company, and CEO Robert Orville Anderson to amass the one-and-a-half million dollars needed to establish the Harper's Magazine Foundation that currently publishes the magazine.[6][7]

In 1984, Lapham and MacArthur — now publisher and president of the foundation — along with new executive editor Michael Pollan, redesigned Harper's and introduced the "Harper's Index" (ironic statistics arranged for thoughtful effect), "Readings", and the "Annotation" departments to complement its fiction, essays, and reportage.

Under the Lapham-MacArthur leadership, Harper's magazine continued publishing literary fiction by the likes of John Updike, George Saunders, and others. Politically, Harper's was an especially vocal critic of U.S. domestic and foreign policies. Editor Lapham's monthly "Notebook" columns have lambasted the Clinton and the George W. Bush administrations, and, since 2003, the magazine has concentrated on reportage about U.S. war in Iraq, with long articles about the battle for Fallujah, and the alleged cronyism of the American reconstruction of Iraq. Moreover, other stories have covered abortion, cloning, and global warming.[8]

In April 2006, Harper's began publishing the Washington Babylon blog in its site, wherein Washington Editor Ken Silverstein writes about corrupt American politics. In 2007, Harper's added the No Comment blog, by Scott Horton, about legal controversies, Central Asian politics, and German studies. In 2008, Harper's added the "Sentences" blog, by contributing editor Wyatt Mason, about literature and belle lettres. Contributing editor Benjamin Moser writes the New Books column. Also, writers compose the Weekly Review, single-sentence summaries of political, scientific, and bizarre news; like the Harper's Index, the Weekly Review items are humorously and ironically arranged.

Controversies

In his essay "Tentacles of rage: The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history," published in the September 2004 issue, Lewis H. Lapham fictionalized his reportage of the 2004 Republican National Convention, which had yet to occur. He apologized in a note.[9][10]

The March 2006 issue contained the Celia Farber reportage, Out of Control: AIDS and the Corruption of Medical Science, presenting Peter Duesberg's theory that HIV does not cause AIDS.[11][12] It was strongly criticized by AIDS activists,[13] scientists,[14] the Columbia Journalism Review,[15] and others, as inaccurate and for promoting a scientifically-discredited theory.[16] The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African organization working for greater popular access to HIV treatments, posted a response by eight researchers documenting more than fifty errors in the article.[17]

In summer of 2006, Harper's serially published John Robert Lennon's novel Happyland when its original publisher, W. W. Norton, decided not to publish it, fearing a libel lawsuit. The protagonist is doll magnate Happy Masters, whose story parallels the life of Pleasant Rowland, the creator of the American Girl doll business.[18]

Notable contributors

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References

  1. ^ Awards and Honors (PDF) at Harper's site
  2. ^ History of Harper's (PDF) on Harper's site
  3. ^ Sherman, Scott. "The Unvanquished," Nov/Dec, 2007. Columbia Journalism Review
  4. ^ "The Press: New Head at Harper’s," TIME magazine, June 28, 1971.
  5. ^ Harper's Magazine, "About This Issue," September 1971
  6. ^ Facts on File 1980 Yearbook, pp.501, 582
  7. ^ Woo, Elaine (2007-12-05). "Arco founder led firm into major civic philanthropy". Los Angeles Times. pp. B6.
  8. ^ An American Album: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Harper's Magazine, a seven hundred twelve-page illustrated anthology, with an introduction by Lewis H. Lapham and a foreword by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
  9. ^ Shafer, Jack. "Lewis Lapham Phones It In: Figuring out what's wrong with Harper's magazine." Slate 15 September 2004.
  10. ^ Lapham, Lewis H. "Tentacles of rage: The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history." Harper's September 2004. p. 43-53.
  11. ^ Farber, Celia (2006-03-01). Out Of Control, AIDS and the corruption of medical science. Harper's Magazine. Retrieved 2006-03-13.
  12. ^ Miller, Lia (2006-03-13). An Article in Harper's Ignites a Controversy Over H.I.V. The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-03-13.
  13. ^ Farber Feedback. POZ Magazine. Retrieved 2006-03-13.
  14. ^ Letters from scientists and physicians criticizing Harper's for poor fact-checking of Celia Farber's article on AIDS. Accessed 21 Oct 2006.
  15. ^ Harper's Races Right over the Edge of a Cliff, by Gal Beckerman. Published in the Columbia Journalism Review on March 8, 2006. Accessed June 14, 2007.
  16. ^ Kim, Richard (2006-03-02). Harper's Publishes AIDS Denialist. Retrieved 2006-03-13.
  17. ^ Gallo, Robert (2006-03-04). Errors in Celia Farber's March 2006 article in Harper's Magazine (PDF). Treatment Action Campaign. Retrieved 2006-03-13. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ NYT Book Review

External links

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