''The Washington Spectator'' is a left-leaning independent political periodical with a circulation of 60,000, published monthly by The Public Concern Foundation. It was founded by Tristram Coffin (AKA Tris Coffin) in 1971 as ''Washington Watch'', and became ''The Washington Spectator'' in 1974. Coffin remained editor until 1993. Generally, every issue covers a single topic—most often, one that its editors believe is not receiving sufficient coverage in the mainstream media outlets.

Circulation

In 1997, the ''Washington Spectator'' had a circulation of some 65,000.

Staff

The current editor-in-chief is Lou Dubose, who assumed the editorship in 2007. Dubose is the author of ''Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency'' and co-author, with Molly Ivins, of the books ''Bushwhacked: Life in George Bush's America'', ''Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush'', and ''Bill of Wrongs: The Executive Branch's Assault on America's Fundamental Rights''. The current publisher is Hamilton Fish V.

Founder Tris Coffin

Tristram Coffin (1912–1997), born in Hood River, Oregon, grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from Depauw University. He worked for the '' Indianapolis Times'', for whom he covered gangster John Dillinger, before becoming press secretary to Governor Clifford Townsend and then staffer when Townsend became an assistant secretary at the United States Department of Agriculture. During World War II, Coffin returned to journalism as a radio reporter, covering the White House for

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

and Capitol Hill for ABC Radio. Coffin then joined Drew Pearson's ''Washington Merry-Go-Round''. In 1947, he published a critical book on US President Harry S. Truman, entitled ''Missouri Compromise'', after which he established a syndicated column, "Tris Coffin's Daybook," while working for ABC. (Coffin wrote half a dozen other books.) In 1968, Coffin raised funds to start the ''Washington Watch'' newsletter, which became the ''Washington Spectator'' in 1975. After writing and editing the newsletter for more than two decades, Coffin retired; he died in 1997. Ralph de Toledano and

Victor Lasky Victor Lasky (7 January 1918 – 22 February 1990) was a conservative columnist in the United States who wrote several best-selling books. He was syndicated by the North American Newspaper Alliance. Background On January 7, 1918, Victor Lasky w ...

cited Coffin in their book ''Seeds of Treason'' (1950).

Others

Besides founder and former editor Coffin, former editors include Ben A. Franklin, who helmed the periodical from 1993 to 2005. In the early 1990s, the ''Spectator'' distinguished itself with reporting on the sexual assault scandals of Oregon Senator Robert Packwood, who resigned his office in 1995. Recent staffers include David Weigel, a reporter for ''The Washington Post''. Former publisher Kevin Walter now serves as associate publisher of '' Mother Jones'' magazine.Kevin Walte
biography
on motherjones.com (Retrieved October 17, 2011). Phillip Frazer also served as publisher of the ''Spectator''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington Spectator Monthly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1974 Magazines published in New York City Political magazines published in the United States