Joel Bleifuss is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. He was the editor and publisher of ''

In These Times ''In These Times'' is an American politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published in Chicago, Illinois. It was established as a broadsheet-format fortnightly newspaper in 1976 by James Weinstein, a lifelong socialist. ...

'', a Chicago-based news magazine founded in 1976 by James Weinstein. During Bleifuss's tenure, the magazine published articles and columns by members of the U.S. Congressional

Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most left-leaning faction of the Democratic Party. " e Congressional Progressive Cauc ...

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...

, and

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek (, ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New Y ...

, as well as long-time writers Susan Douglas, David Moberg, and

Salim Muwakkil Salim Muwakkil (born Alonzo James Cannady, January 20, 1947) is an American journalist and political commentator, based in Chicago. He is a senior editor at '' In These Times magazine'' and an op-ed columnist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Muwakkil ...

Career

Before working at ''In These Times'', Bleifuss was a features writer at the ''Fulton Sun'', in

Fulton, Missouri Fulton is the largest city in and the county seat of Callaway County, Missouri, United States. Located about northeast of Jefferson City and the Missouri River and east of Columbia, the city is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri, Metropolita ...

. His criticisms of the public relations industry have appeared in the ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

'' and on the op-ed page of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

.'' Bleifuss began working as an investigative reporter and columnist for ''In These Times'' in 1986, when it was published as a tabloid newspaper. He became managing editor in 1998 and editor the following year. Bleifuss writes frequently on U.S. politics, foreign policy, and environmental affairs. His columns have covered an array of topics including

mad-cow disease Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of t ...

(BSE) and the beef industry,

carcinogens A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...

in cosmetics, and the "

October Surprise In U.S. political jargon, an October surprise is a news event that may influence the outcome of an upcoming November election (particularly one for the U.S. presidency), whether deliberately planned or spontaneously occurring. Because the date f ...

" preceding the 1980 U.S. presidential elections. Bleifuss's articles have been featured on Project Censored's list of suppressed news stories more than those of any other American journalist. During the years of the

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

administration, Bleifuss worked with American novelist

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

on a variety of articles, interviews, and short comic essays which were published first in magazines, and republished in ''

La Jornada ''La Jornada'' (''The Working Day'') is one of Mexico City's leading daily newspapers. It was established in 1984 by Carlos Payán Velver. The current editor ''(directora general)'' is Carmen Lira Saade. ''La Jornada'' has presence in eight sta ...

'' and other media outlets. ''

A Man Without a Country ''A Man Without a Country'' (subtitle: ''A Memoir of Life in George W. Bush's America'') is an essay collection published in 2005 by the author Kurt Vonnegut. The essays deal with topics ranging from the importance of humor, to problems with ...

'', the last book Vonnegut published during his lifetime, includes material that originally appeared in ''In These Times''. He lives in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

References

External links

In These Times website
Selection of Joel Bleifuss's writings.
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
Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen? Exit Polls, Election Fraud, and the Official Count
- Book Bleifuss co-authored with Steve Freeman (Published June, 2006) Living people Writers from Chicago Journalists from Illinois American magazine publishers (people) Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-journalist-20thC-stub