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Human Events

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Human Events
Editor-in-chiefWill Chamberlain
FounderFelix Morley
Frank Hanighen
Henry Regnery
FoundedFebruary 2, 1944; 80 years ago (1944-02-02)
Final issueFebruary 18, 2013 (print)
CountryUnited States
Based inWashington, D.C.
LanguageEnglish
Websitehumanevents.com
ISSN0018-7194
OCLC818923121

Human Events is an American conservative political news and analysis website. Founded in 1944 as a print newspaper, Human Events became a digital-only publication in 2013.

Human Events takes its name from the first sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence: "When in the course of human events...".[1] The magazine was published in Washington, D.C., most recently by Eagle Publishing, the owner of Regnery Publishing, a subsidiary of Phillips Publishing. Thomas S. Winter was editor-in-chief and Cathy Taylor was editorial director of the print edition.[2] As of 2021, the website is co-published by Jeff Webb and Will Chamberlain.

History

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Human Events was founded in 1944 by Felix Morley, William Henry Chamberlin, Frank Hanighen, and Henry Regnery.[3][4][5] Morley was previously editor of The Washington Post from 1933 to 1940.[6] Regnery formerly worked for the Resettlement Administration, a New Deal-era federal agency.[4] In its early years, Human Events was "a small-circulation weekly news sheet concentrating on foreign policy," wrote George H. Nash in The Conservative Intellectual Movement in American Since 1945.[3] Human Events had only 127 subscribers in its first year.[7]

Returning from a trip to Europe in 1949, Morley criticized the Cold War, leading to disagreements with Hanighen and Regnery about combating Communism. After Hanighen and Regnery denied his proposal for sole editorial control of the magazine, Morley resigned as Human Events editor in 1950, a move that Nash recounted as "[a]nother product of the friction between Old Right and New Right."[8] In 1951, Frank Chodorov, former director of the Henry George School of Social Science[9] in New York, replaced Morley as editor, merging his newsletter, analysis, into Human Events.[10]

By the early 1960s, Allan Ryskind (son of Morrie Ryskind) and Thomas Winter had acquired the publication.[11] Contributors to Human Events from the 1960s to the 1980s included Spiro Agnew, James L. Buckley, Peter Gemma, Pat Buchanan, Ralph de Toledano, Russell Kirk, Phyllis Schlafly, Murray Rothbard and Henry Hazlitt.[12] By 1964, the circulation of Human Events surpassed 100,000 copies.[7] During the presidency of Richard Nixon, Human Events became "perhaps the most influential conservative journal in the Washington political community," wrote Nash.[7] Other regular writers included Robert Novak, Ann Coulter, Terence P. Jeffrey, and John Gizzi, its chief political editor. Contributors have included Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, Paul Craig Roberts, Cliff Kincaid, and Pat Sajak.[citation needed] Newsweek reported that although Human Events did not have a large readership outside the Washington D.C. area, "the tough little tabloid enjoys an impact out of all proportion to its circulation".[13]

Human Events backed US military intervention in the Vietnam War; after the war ended, the publication blamed American liberals for the collapse of South Vietnam.[14]

In July 1985, Human Events gave qualified support to Apartheid South Africa, describing the country as "a pro-Western bulwark that provides more in the way of freedom and wealth to its blacks than the vast majority of black African states".[15][16] Human Events also described Nelson Mandela as the main obstacle to peace in South Africa: "While President Botha is moving at a fast and furious pace to end the apartheid system, Mandela remains as adamant a revolutionary as ever. He's still a Marxist, still a man of violence, still a supporter of the Communist-run ANC". It was not without sympathy for the plight of blacks under the system however, giving black power activist Steve Biko a thoughtful obituary. The perspective offered throughout was that Marxist rule in South Africa was the worst option, however bad others might be.[17]

Eagle Publishing placed the magazine up for sale in February 2013, when it announced that it would close the publication if no buyer could be found.[18] On February 27, 2013, Human Events announced that, after 69 years, it would halt publication of the print edition but would continue to maintain the websites HumanEvents.com and RedState with original reporting. Eagle Publishing, which acquired the magazine in 1993, said that it had been subsidizing the publication for several years but could no longer afford to do so: "the realities of the 24-hour news cycle and the brutal economics of a weekly print publication have become insurmountable."[1]

Human Events printed 40,000 copies per week and had a staff of 15 full-time employees. A "restructuring" plan that involved layoffs had already been attempted but was insufficient to allow continuation of the print edition.[1]

In January 2014, Eagle Publishing was acquired by Salem Media Group.[19]

In March 2019, political writer Raheem Kassam and lawyer Will Chamberlain purchased Human Events from Salem Media Group for $300,000 with a view of returning Human Events to regular online publication.[20][21] On May 1, 2019, Human Events was re-launched under the management of Kassam as Global editor-in-chief and Chamberlain as publisher.[22] On August 8, 2019, Human Events announced that Kassam was leaving the outlet, and the Editor-in-Chief responsibilities would be taken over by Chamberlain.[23]

In December 2020, Human Events announced that Jeff Webb, founder of Varsity Spirit, had been appointed as co-publisher and senior news editor, and that Webb and his team would build a daily news platform.[20][24]

In May 2021, Human Events announced that conspiracy theorist[30] Jack Posobiec had been hired as senior editor.[31] In May 2022, Human Events announced that it had acquired The Post Millennial, a Canadian conservative online news magazine.[20]

Influence on Ronald Reagan

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Biographer Richard Reeves wrote in 2005 that Human Events was former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's "favorite reading for years".[32] A loyal subscriber since 1961,[11] Reagan said it “helped me stop being a liberal Democrat,”[33] calling it "must reading for conservatives who want to know what is really going on in Washington, D.C."[34] Reagan contributed some articles to Human Events in the 1970s.[12] During the 1980 presidential campaign, Democrats released a document entitled "Ronald Reagan, Extremist Collaborator — An Exposé," in which, according to biographer Lee Edwards, "[a]mong the proofs of Reagan's extremism was that he read the conservative weekly Human Events."[35] After Reagan's landslide win in the election, Reagan would occasionally write or call Winter or Ryskind.[11]

"Human Events, however, was no favorite of the new men around Reagan," writes Reeves. "Baker and Darman, and Deaver too, did their best each week to keep it out of the reading material they gave the President."[36] "When he discovered White House aides were blocking its delivery, President Reagan arranged for multiple copies to be sent to the White House residence every weekend," writes Edwards, who adds that Reagan took care "marking and clipping articles and passing them along to his assistants."[37]

Just before his 1982 tax hike, Reagan met with what he called "some of my old friends from Human Events" (he mentioned Ryskind and M. Stanton Evans),[38] who warned him about "disloyal" White House staff (in particular James Baker) who favored making a deal on taxes with the Democratic Congress. (Reagan subsequently made such a deal, in which for each $1 in higher taxes Congress promised $3 in spending cuts. Ultimately, both taxes and spending increased.)[39]

At the 1986 Reykjavík Summit, Reagan told General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev that he could not give up the Strategic Defense Initiative because of "'the people who were the most outspoken critics of the Soviet Union over the years’—he mentioned his favorite paper, Human Events," according to Reeves, "‘They’re kicking my brains out’."[40]

References

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Sources
  • Nash, George H. (1976). The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-01401-1.
Notes
  1. ^ a b c "Valerie Richardson, "Stop the Presses! Human Events to shutter newspaper after 70 years," February 27, 2013". Washington Times. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "Cathy Taylor's Articles - Human Events". Human Events. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Nash 1976, p. 14.
  4. ^ a b Thomas Jr., Robert McC. (June 23, 1996). "Henry Regnery, 84, Ground-Breaking Conservative Publisher". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 26, 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  5. ^ Gillian Peele, 'American Conservatism in Historical Perspective', in Crisis of Conservatism? The Republican Party, the Conservative Movement, & American Politics After Bush, Gillian Peele, Joel D. Aberbach (eds.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 21
  6. ^ Weil, Martin (March 15, 1982). "Won First Pulitzer for The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Nash 1976, p. 335.
  8. ^ Nash 1976, pp. 124–125.
  9. ^ "hgsss.org – Henry George School of Social Science". www.henrygeorgeschool.org. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  10. ^ Steeleman, Aaron (2008). "Chodorov, Frank (1887–1966)". In Hamowy, Ronald (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Cato Institute. pp. 62–63. doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n41. ISBN 978-1-4129-6580-4. LCCN 2008009151. OCLC 750831024.
  11. ^ a b c Shirley, Craig (2005). Reagan's revolution: the untold story of the campaign that started it all. Thomas Nelson, Inc. p. 337. ISBN 978-0-7852-6049-3. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  12. ^ a b "Advertisement for Human Events". The American Spectator. February 1974. p. 29.
  13. ^ Newsweek. September 6, 1971. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ "The liberal betrayal of Vietnam" Human Events editorial, reprinted in David L Bender and Gary E McCuen, The Indochina War : why our policy failed. Opposing Viewpoints series, v. 11. Greenhaven Press, 1975. ISBN 0-912616-36-9
  15. ^ "Why Did Conservatives Join the Anti-South Africa Brigade?" Human Events, December 29, 1984. Cited in Thomas Bodenheimer and Robert Gould, Rollback!: Right-wing Power in U.S. Foreign Policy. Boston, MA : South End Press, 1989. (p. 86)
  16. ^ "Such arch-conservative magazines as Human Events usually take the South Africa point of view in various controversies, or defend that country against criticism from American and other sources". Alfred O. Hero Jr., and John Barratt The American people and South Africa : publics, elites, and policymaking processes. Lexington Books, MA, .1981. ISBN 0669043206 (p. 41)
  17. ^ Human Events July 6, 1985, Cited in Piero Gleijeses, Visions of freedom : Havana, Washington, Pretoria and the struggle for Southern Africa, 1976–1991. Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, 2013. ISBN 9781469609683
  18. ^ "Conservative magazine Human Events up for sale, could close". Politico.com. February 21, 2013. Archived from the original on February 25, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  19. ^ "Salem Communications Buys Eagle Publishing". Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  20. ^ a b c Goforth, Claire (May 5, 2022). "Human Events, Post Millennial join together in big right-wing media merger". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  21. ^ Wemple, Erik (March 1, 2019). "Breitbart alum to resuscitate Human Events". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  22. ^ Guaglione, Sara (March 20, 2019). "Salem Media Group Acquires Conservative Site PJ Media". Mediapost. Archived from the original on June 1, 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  23. ^ "Human Events Announces Changes to Leadership Team". Human Events. August 9, 2019. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  24. ^ "Human Events Announces Addition of Jeff Webb as its new Co-Publisher and Sr. News Editor". Human Events. December 10, 2020. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  25. ^ Loadenthal, Michael (June 19, 2023). "We Protect Us: Cyber Persistent Digital Antifascism and Dual Use Knowledge". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. Routledge: 5. doi:10.1080/1057610X.2023.2222903. ISSN 1057-610X. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024 – via ResearchGate. There are also book-length treatments authored by far-right agitator Andy Ngo, and alt-right conspiracy-theorist Jack Posobiec, which both rely on the sensationalism of violence as their focus.
  26. ^ Hawley, George (November 7, 2018). The Alt-Right: What Everyone Needs to Know®. Oxford University Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-19-090522-4. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024 – via Google Books. Aside from McInnes, The Rebel has employed several other figures whose views may be described as Alt-Right or Alt-Lite, including Lauren Southern, conspiracy theorist and pro-Trump political activist Jack Posobiec, and far-right Canadian political commentator Faith Goldy.
  27. ^ Bauer, Mareike; Heimstädt, Maximilian; Franzreb, Carlos; Schimmler, Sonja (July 2023). "Clickbait or conspiracy? How Twitter users address the epistemic uncertainty of a controversial preprint". Big Data & Society. 10 (2). Sage. doi:10.1177/20539517231180575. ISSN 2053-9517. We classified the user as a conspiracy theorist, as they used words like 'Deep State' or retweeted content from well-known conspiracy theorists like Jack Posobiec.
  28. ^ Bittle, Jake (November 26, 2021). "Ronald Reagan's Favorite Magazine Has Gone Full MAGA". The New Republic. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  29. ^ Rink, Matthew (October 11, 2022). "Shapiro calls on Mastriano to rescind invitation to alt-right operative Jack Posobiec". Erie Times-News. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  30. ^ Sources describing Posobiec as a conspiracy theorist: [25][26][27][28][29]
  31. ^ Baragona, Justin (May 20, 2021). "Notorious Pizzagater Jack Posobiec Leaves OAN for Conservative Youth Group Turning Point USA". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  32. ^ Reeves, Richard (2005). President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7432-8230-7. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  33. ^ Lee Edwards (February 5, 2011). "Reagan's Newspaper". Human Events. Eagle Publishing. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  34. ^ "HUMAN EVENTS: The Conservative Weekly". Conservative Advertising Network. Eagle Interactive. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  35. ^ Edwards, Lee (2005). The essential Ronald Reagan: a profile in courage, justice, and wisdom. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-7425-4375-1. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  36. ^ Reeves, Richard (2005). President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7432-8230-7. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  37. ^ Lee Edwards (February 5, 2011). "Reagan's Newspaper". Human Events. Eagle Publishing. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2011. Cf. Reeves, Richard (2005). President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 25, fn. ISBN 978-0-7432-8230-7. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  38. ^ Skinner, Kiron K.; Anderson, Annelise; Anderson, Martin (2004). Reagan: A Life in Letters. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 595. ISBN 978-0-7432-7642-9. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  39. ^ Hayward, Steven F. (2009). The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution, 1980–1989. New York: Random House, Inc. pp. 210–12. ISBN 978-1-4000-5357-5. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  40. ^ Reeves, Richard (2005). President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 351–52. ISBN 978-0-7432-8230-7. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
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