Since it was founded in 1995 by William Kristol with financial backing from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, the Weekly Standard has served as the key voice of contemporary neoconservatism, taking over the role once played by Commentary magazine, whose past editors have included Irving Kristol (William's father) and Norman Podhoretz. With the emergence of the Standard, a magazine closely linked to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), neoconservatism's role in political discourse underwent a dramatic change, shifting away from the intellectualism of early neoconservative journals in favor of what Bill Kristol terms "opinion journalism." Instead of addressing itself to like-minded intellectuals, the Weekly Standard aims to speak to power and to impact policymaking. During the presidency of George W. Bush, it has experienced remarkable success.
In the forward to the book The Weekly Standard: A Reader: 1995-2005, Kristol writes that "some not insignificant number of people always assume that the Weekly Standard isn't really published in English, but in code—that its contents are designed to advance a surreptitious political agenda. The Weekly Standard is a conservative magazine, of course. We make no bones about it. And ours tends toward a particular kind of conservatism; our pages are its home, we like to think. But that's the point: The distinctive point of view in question has been worked out—and is still being worked out—on paper, in public, over the long haul. And it's also the case that in those very same pages we have consistently and more or less routinely run authors who manifestly don't agree with one another."
While it may be the case that Standard authors sometimes disagree with one another, it is also the case that on the important issues there is broad agreement—in particular, on the neoconservative agenda to influence U.S. foreign policy. While some authors may disagree over the particulars of this agenda, the belief in the moral exceptionalism of U.S. power and the will to wield it broadly remain core overarching themes of the journal, insofar as its coverage of foreign affairs is concerned. Nor is this agenda at all "surreptitious," but a very open, publicly waged campaign, one that was closely linked to the efforts of the neoconservative pressure group the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), cofounded by Kristol and Robert Kagan , which played an instrumental role in championing the invasion of Iraq in the wake of 9/11.
In fact, the Weekly Standard regularly features a number of figures linked to PNAC, including Reuel Marc Gerecht, Ellen Bork (daughter of AEI scholar and prominent Federalist Society member Robert Bor ), Gary Schmitt, and Thomas Donnelly. It also regularly publishes the work of "scholars" based at the AEI, which is housed in the same building as PNAC, including David Frum and Danielle Pletka.
Bill Kristol, Fred Barnes, and John Podhoretz cofounded the Weekly Standard in March 1995 after meeting (along with David Tell of the Project for the Republican Future) with Rupert Murdoch at the Beverly Hills home of the international media mogul. The weekly newsmagazine published its first issue in mid-September 1995, "thanks to Murdoch's generosity" (Weekly Standard, September 19, 2005).
Fred Barnes came to the Weekly Standard from the New Republic, and John Podhoretz (Norman's son) was a TV critic for the New York Post, also owned by Murdoch. In 1997 Podhoretz returned to the New York Post as an editor and columnist.
At one point during the George W. Bush presidency, one of Vice President Dick Cheney's aides reportedly would stop by the Standard's office each Monday to pick up 30 copies of the magazine—presumably so the vice president's staff could be among the first to know the latest policy recommendation emanating from the PNAC-AEI- Weekly Standard echo chamber. The Weekly Standard boasts on its website: "Lots of Washington publications say they have influence. The Weekly Standard delivers it. The Standard's VIP distribution system is unrivaled by any other Beltway publication. Each issue is hand-delivered—by request—every Sunday morning to an exclusive list: the most powerful men and women in government, politics, and the media."
It continues: "From the White House to congressional leadership to the top echelon of Washington's print and broadcast journalists, every important player in the city gets a copy. Articles delivered on Sunday are the foundation of congressional debates the following week. Moreover, before breakfast on Mondays, 4,000 requested copies of the Standard are delivered—also by hand—to every Member of Congress, to congressional committees, and to federal agencies throughout the city."
Commented media critic Eric Alterman: "The magazine speaks directly to and for power. Anybody who wants to know what this administration is thinking and what they plan to do has to read this magazine" (David Carr, "White House Listens When Weekly Speaks," New York Times, March 11, 2003).
In an interview with the New York Observer regarding the neoconservative universe, Kristol suggested that "News Corp. should get a little spot on your map" (Joe Hagan, "President Bush's Neoconservatives Were Spawned Right Here in N.Y.C., New Home of the Right-Wing Gloat," New York Observer, April 28, 2003). Actually, News Corporation deserves more than just a spot on the neoconservative map. Murdoch's conglomerate owns at least 10 major English-language newspapers, including New York Post and Times of London, in addition to Weekly Standard. Murdoch's personal involvement has helped to ensure that almost all of his news organizations "have hewn very closely to Mr. Murdoch's own stridently hawkish political views, making his voice among the loudest in the Anglophone world in the international debate over the American-led war with Iraq," as one commentator put it (New York Times, April 7, 2003).
Most U.S. citizens and global media consumers experience Australian-born Murdoch's influence not through the print media but through the Fox News Channel, which in 2002 surpassed CNN to become the top-rated cable news network in the United States (New York Times, April 7, 2003). The Fox News Channel frequently calls on Weekly Standard writers to provide news commentary, including Kristol and executive editor Barnes, who in one broadcast during the Iraq invasion called competing news sources "weenies" for their concern about and coverage of civilian casualties.
When asked why media outlets like Weekly Standard and Fox News Channel have become so popular, Matt Labash, a Weekly Standard senior writer, responded: "Because they feed the rage. We bring pain to the liberal media ... The conservative media likes to rap the liberal media on the knuckles for not being objective ... It's a great way to have your cake and eat it too. Criticize other people for not being objective. Be as subjective as you want. It's a great little racket" ("Interview with Matt Labash," JournalismJobs.com, May 2003).
