In These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago. In These Times was established in 1976 by James Weinstein, a life-long socialist, with the aid of prominent intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky, Herbert Marcuse, and Julian Bond.

In These Times is known for its investigative reporting of corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, its coverage of international affairs, and its cultural criticism. It regularly reports on environmental issues, feminism, grassroots democracy, minority communities and the media.

In These Times founding editor and publisher is James Weinstein; its current editor and publisher is Joel Bleifuss. It has a circulation of over 21,000 (2004). As a nonprofit organization, the magazine is financed through subscriptions and donations.

History

In 1976 historian and former editor of Studies on the Left, James Weinstein (1926-2005) launched the politically progressive journal In These Times. He sought to model the newsweekly on the early 20th century socialist paper the Appeal to Reason. "We intend to speak to corporate capitalism as the great issue of our time, and to socialism as the popular movement that will meet it" he told the Chicago Sun Times on the eve of the first issue's release. While Weinstein himself was involved with both the New American Movement and the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, he wanted the journal to be independent of any one political party or faction. Thus, over the years In These Times has published a wide variety contributors - from anarchists, to union members, to political conservatives.

During the 1980s In These Times won notoriety for its investigative reporting of the Iran-Contra scandal. It has since broken stories on the deliberate destruction of Iraqi water treatment plants by US forces during the first Gulf War, global warming, and on the emergence of Mad Cow disease.

Senior In These Times editor Silja J.A. Talvi won two National Council on Crime and Delinquency PASS Awards (2005, 2006) for her reporting on the impact of three strikes sentencing on African American men, and on the trend toward privatization of the prison system.

In These Times was awarded Utne Reader's Independent Press Award for Best Political Coverage in 2006

Contributors

Two of the longest running columns in In These Times are Salim Muwakkil's "The Third Coast," covering race relations, and Susan Douglas's "Back Talk," a critical review of the mass media. David Moberg has reported on labor and political economy for In These Times since the magazine's inception in 1976. The magazine's editor Joel Bleifuss has written for In These Times since the mid-1980s. More stories from his column, "The First Stone" have been included in Project Censored's "Top 25 Censored Stories of the Year" than any other journalist. Other current columnists include H. Candace Gorman, Laura S. Washington, and Terry J. Allen.

Current senior editors include Craig Aaron, Terry J. Allen, Patricia Aufderheide, Lakshmi Chaudhry, Adam Doster, Susan J. Douglas, David Moberg, Dave Mulcahey, Salim Muwakkil, David Sirota, Silja J.A. Talvi, and Laura Washington.

Other notable contributors have included Alexander Cockburn, Barbara Ehrenreich, Laura Flanders, Annette Fuentes, Juan Gonzalez, David Graeber, Miles Harvey, Paul Hockenos, George Hodak, Doug Ireland, John Judis, Naomi Klein, Lucy Komisa, Robert McChesney, Kim Phillips-Fein, Jeffrey St. Clair, Jane Slaughter, Kurt Vonnegut, Joan Walsh, Fred Weir, Paul Wellstone, G. Pascal Zachary, and Slavoj Zizek.

Layout

Each In These Times issue includes Frontline, Features, Views, and Culture sections.

• The Frontline department consists of several recent news items. A hallmark of Frontline is the Apall-o-meter which highlights particularly ironic or astonishing news quirks.
• The Features section is made up of several longer pieces, including the cover story, and analyses.
• The Views department consists of three to four opinion columns.
• The Culture portion of the magazine features book, film, theatre and music reviews. Other elements of popular culture such as television programming, and fashion are critically examined in this section.

Most In These Times issues run political cartoons from Tom Tomorrow or Terry Laban.

The ITT List

The ITT List is a weblog by the editors and staff of In These Times magazine. It is frequently updated with small news stories not published in the print edition of In These Times.

Trivia

• In These Times tagline has evolved over the years from "The Independent Socialist Newspaper" in 1976, to "The Alternative News Magazine" in the early 1990s, to "With liberty and justice for all..." today.

References

External links

• In These Times website - A portion of ITT content is available free of charge on their website, yearly subscriptions are available for the full print edition
• The ITT List - A weblog from the editors and staff of ITT magazine
• Fire on the Prairie - A podcast (active 2003-2006) with interviews and speeches from progressive leaders