Washington Monthly

Washington Monthly is a bimonthly,Template:Efn nonprofit magazine primarily covering United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine also publishes an annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alternative to ForbesTemplate:' and U.S. News & World ReportTemplate:'s rankings.

History

The magazine was founded on February 19, 1969, by Charles Peters, who wrote the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue until 2014.<ref name="Monthly01022014">Template:Cite news</ref> Paul Glastris, former speechwriter for Bill Clinton, has been Washington Monthly's editor-in-chief since 2001. In 2008, the magazine switched from a monthly to a bimonthly publication schedule, citing high publication costs.

Past staff editors of the magazine include Jonathan Alter, Taylor Branch, James Fallows, Joshua Green, David Ignatius, Mickey Kaus, Nicholas Lemann, Suzannah Lessard, Jon Meacham, Timothy Noah, Joe Nocera, Nicholas Thompson, and Steven Waldman.<ref name="NYT042202">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2008, the liberal watchdog and advocacy group Common Cause considered acquiring Washington Monthly, but the deal fell apart.<ref name="WashingtonPost">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Contents and viewpoint

The politics of Washington Monthly are often considered center-left.<ref name=PoliticsUnspun>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=NYMag122415>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Forbes091406>Template:Cite news</ref> Founder Charles Peters, who had long referred to himself as a New Deal Democrat, redefined himself as a neoliberal in the 1980s, becoming an early proponent of market-based reforms among Democrats.<ref name="APr11272023">Template:Cite news</ref> His columns also frequently emphasized the importance of a vigilant "fourth estate" in keeping government honest.

Washington Monthly features a continuing blog, "Political Animal", which was written principally by Kevin Drum for several years, with frequent guest contributions by Washington Monthly's current and alumni editors. In 2008, Steve Benen took over as lead blogger. In 2012, he was succeeded by Ed Kilgore.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Kilgore left the magazine in 2015.<ref name="WaMo112015">Template:Cite news</ref>

In addition to "Political Animal", the magazine's website hosts "Ten Miles Square", a general blog featuring posts from staff and political scientists, which debuted in 2011,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and "College Guide", a blog about higher education, which the magazine began offering in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

College rankings

Washington MonthlyTemplate:'s annual college and university rankings,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a deliberate alternative college guide to U.S. News & World Report and Forbes College Rankings among domestic publications, began as a research report in 2005. It was introduced as an official set of rankings in the September 2006 issue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Its "National Universities Rankings", most recently published in 2023, began as a research report in 2005 with its first rankings appearing in the September 2006 issue. Washington Monthly rates schools "based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country)."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Funding

The Washington Monthly receives financial support from the Lumina Foundation to provide coverage of post-secondary education-related issues.<ref name=lumina>Template:Cite web</ref> The magazine has also received funding from the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Carnegie Corporation of New York,<ref name=carnegie>Template:Cite web</ref> and individual supporters, including Warren Buffett and Markos Kounalakis.<ref name="NYT042202"/>

External links

• Template:Official website