The ''American Free Press'' is a weekly
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...
published in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
The newspaper's direct ancestor was ''
The Spotlight
''The Spotlight'' was a weekly newspaper in the United States, published in Washington, D.C. from September 1975 to July 2001 by the now-defunct antisemitic Liberty Lobby. ''The Spotlight'' ran articles and editorials professing a "populist and ...
'', which ceased publication in 2001 when its parent organization,
Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby was a far-right think tank and lobby group founded in 1958 by Willis Carto. Carto was known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and Holocaust denial.
The organization produced a daily five-mi ...
, was forced into
bankruptcy. One of the paper's founders was
Willis Carto
Willis Allison Carto (July 17, 1926 – October 26, 2015) was an American far-right political activist. He described himself as a Jeffersonian and a populist, but was primarily known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and ...
, a
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
who promoted
antisemitic conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
and
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
.
History
''American Free Press'' was founded by
Willis Carto
Willis Allison Carto (July 17, 1926 – October 26, 2015) was an American far-right political activist. He described himself as a Jeffersonian and a populist, but was primarily known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and ...
. Carto was most politically involved in his career throughout the 1960s. He was known for his extremist ideologies in white supremacist and anti-semitic movements.
Contributors
Writers for the newspaper included
Michael Collins Piper
Michael Collins Piper (born Michael Bernard Piper; July 16, 1960 – May 2015) was an American political writer, conspiracy theorist and talk radio host.
Piper was a regular contributor to both ''The Spotlight'' and its successor, the ''Americ ...
, whose work has been characterized as anti-semitic and
James P. Tucker, Jr., a longtime ''Spotlight'' reporter whose focus was the
Bilderberg Group
The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defi ...
. Articles by Carto also appeared occasionally.
James Edwards, host of ''
The Political Cesspool'' (broadcast as a service of the neo-Nazi
Stormfront), was also a former writer for the newspaper.
The newspaper also runs columns by
Joe Sobran,
James Traficant
James Anthony Traficant Jr. (May 8, 1941 – September 27, 2014) was an American politician who served as a Democratic, and later independent, member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. He represented the 17th Congressiona ...
,
Paul Craig Roberts
Paul Craig Roberts (born April 3, 1939) is an American economist and author. He formerly held a sub-cabinet office in the United States federal government as well as teaching positions at several U.S. universities. He is a promoter of supply-side ...
,
Ron Paul, and others. The newspaper's
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
series has featured guests including
Brian Baird
Brian Norton Baird (born March 7, 1956) is an American psychologist and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2011.
After leaving the U.S. House of Representatives, he served as the ...
,
Philip Giraldi,
Dean Baker
Dean Baker (born July 13, 1958) is an American macroeconomist who co-founded the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) with Mark Weisbrot. Baker has been credited as one of the first economists to have identified the 2007–08 United Sta ...
, and others.
Attendees of the 2006 ''American Free Press''/''The Barnes Review'', conference included
Arthur J. Jones
Arthur Joseph Jones (born January 1, 1948) is an American neo-Nazi, Holocaust denier and perennial candidate. After running unopposed in the primary election, he was the Republican candidate for Illinois's 3rd congressional district in the Nov ...
, former member Nationalist Socialist White People's Party.
Some authors of the ''American Free Press'' such as
Michael Collins Piper
Michael Collins Piper (born Michael Bernard Piper; July 16, 1960 – May 2015) was an American political writer, conspiracy theorist and talk radio host.
Piper was a regular contributor to both ''The Spotlight'' and its successor, the ''Americ ...
and Carto-affiliated institutions such as the
Institute for Historical Review
The Institute for Historical Review (IHR) is a United States-based nonprofit organization which promotes Holocaust denial. It is considered by many scholars to be central to the international Holocaust denial movement. Self-described as a " his ...
have published books which have been published in paper and electronic format on the America First Books website. William B. Fox is the publisher. It promotes nationalist viewpoints similar to those of the American Free Press and its authors.
Eustace Mullins
Eustace Clarence Mullins Jr. (March 9, 1923 – February 2, 2010) was an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, propagandist, Holocaust denier, and writer. A disciple of the poet Ezra Pound,
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
...
was on the editorial staff of the ''American Free Press''.
Criticism
The
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white s ...
considers it a
hate group and says that it "carries stories on
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
, secret 'New World Order' conspiracies, American Jews and Israel." One of the newspaper's ex-contract reporters, Christopher Bollyn, has advocated on behalf of the
9/11 Truth Movement. The
Anti-Defamation League has criticised the newspaper and, in particular, Bollyn for linking of prominent figures in the Jewish community with the events of September 11, 2001, and in September 2006 attacked the newspaper for disseminating "antisemitic
propaganda".
Pro-Israel
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
activists, such as
Kenneth R. Timmerman, have criticized contributors to the ''American Free Press''. In a May 2011 article, contributor Mark Dankof protested the British government's attempt to shut down
Press TV
Press TV (stylised as PRESSTV) is an Iranian state-owned news network that broadcasts in the English and French languages owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the only organization legally able to transmit radio and TV broadc ...
, blaming it on "media outlets and correspondents with provable connections to the American Jewish lobby; Israeli intelligence; and
Neo-Conservatives
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and coun ...
thirsting for a War of Civilizations with Iran specifically, and the Islamic world generally."
Why Doesn’t Obama Ban Iranian Press TV? Kenneth R. Timmerman — January 25, 2012
/ref>
See also
* List of newspapers in the United States
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Publications with year of establishment missing
Conspiracist media
Weekly newspapers published in the United States
Nationalist organizations
Political theories
Politics and race in the United States
White supremacy in the United States
Antisemitic publications