Z Communications is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

activist-oriented media group founded in 1986 by

Michael Albert Michael Albert (born April 8, 1947) is an American economist, speaker, writer, and political critic. Since the late 1970s, he has published books, articles, and other contributions on a wide array of subjects. He has also set up his own media ...

and

Lydia Sargent Lydia Sargent (January 10, 1942 – September 27, 2020) was an American feminist, writer, author, playwright, and actor. Biography She was a founder and original member of the South End Press Collective, as well as Z Magazine, which she co-ed ...

.Max Elbaum
''Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che''
London, England, UK; New York, New York, US: Verso, 2002. p. 296. It is, in broad terms, ideologically

libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (201 ...

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economi ...

, and heavily influenced by

participatory economics Participatory economics, often abbreviated Parecon, is an economic system based on participatory decision making as the primary economic mechanism for allocation in society. In the system, the say in decision-making is proportional to the impa ...

, although much of its content is focused on critical commentary of foreign affairs. Its publications include ''Z Magazine'', ''ZNet'', and ''Z Video''. Since early November 2022, they have all been regrouped under the name ''ZNetwork''.

History

''Zeta Magazine'' was founded by Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent in 1987, both of whom had previously co-founded

South End Press South End Press was a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, Juliet Schor, among others, in Boston's South End. It published books written by political activi ...

. It was renamed ''Z Magazine'' in 1989. Founded in 1994, Z Media Institute provides classes and other sessions in how to start and produce

alternative media Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, C ...

, how to better understand media, and how to develop organising skills. The institute has hosted Stephen Shalom presentations on

parpolity Stephen Rosskamm Shalom is a professor of political science at William Paterson University where he has taught since 1977. He is a writer on social and political issues and is a contributor to Znet and '' Democratic Left''. He is on the editorial ...

a number of times. Founded in 1995
ZNet
(also known as ''ZNet'', ''ZNetwork'' and ''Z Communications'') is a

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

with contributors that include

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

Eduardo Galeano Eduardo Hughes Galeano (; 3 September 1940 – 13 April 2015) was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "global soccer's pre-eminent man of letters" and "a literary giant of the Latin American left". Galean ...

Boris Kagarlitsky Boris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky (russian: Бори́с Ю́льевич Кагарли́цкий; born 29 August 1958) is a Russian Marxist theoretician and sociologist who has been a political dissident in the Soviet Union. He is coordinator of ...

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''White ...

, Chris Spannos and

Kevin Zeese Kevin Bruce Zeese (October 28, 1955 – September 6, 2020) was an American lawyer, U.S. Senate candidate and political activist. He worked to end the war on drugs and mass incarceration, and was instrumental in organizing the 2011 Occupy encam ...

John Pilger John Richard Pilger (; born 9 October 1939) is an Australian journalist, writer, scholar, and documentary filmmaker. He has been mainly based in Britain since 1962. He was also once visiting professor at Cornell University in New York. Pilge ...

has described it as one of the best news sources online. Rene Milan of the

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) is a technoprogressive think tank that seeks to "promote ideas about how technological progress can increase freedom, happiness, and human flourishing in democratic societies."Joseph R. ...

called the site a rich source of information about participism.

Publications and authors

''Z Magazine'' is published in print and on-line monthly. Contributors to the magazine have included

Patrick Bond Patrick Bond (born 1961, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is Distinguished Professor at the University of Johannesburg Department of Sociology. From 2020-21 he was professor at the University of the Western Cape School of Government and from 2015-19, d ...

Ward Churchill Ward LeRoy Churchill (born 1947) is an American author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1990 until 2007.

Edward S. Herman Edward Samuel Herman (April 7, 1925 – November 11, 2017) was an American economist, media scholar and social critic. Herman is known for his media criticism, in particular the propaganda model hypothesis he developed with Noam Chomsky, a fr ...

, Mike Kuhlenbeck, John Ross and

. Articles written by Chomsky have been republished in the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

''.

Criticism

In a 2005 interview with

Joshua Frank Joshua Frank (born in Billings, Montana
June 1, 2007, Ed Kemmick, Billings Gazett ...

, Ward Churchill discussed issues he had with ''Z Magazine''. Churchill claimed an article he worked on was not published for two years and was misattributed. He also felt Albert and Sargent had greater influence than others involved with the publication. In 2012,

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books. Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...

criticized the site's defence of the book ''The Politics of Genocide'' by

and David Peterson, which he said had been called a work of

genocide denial Genocide denial is the attempt to deny or minimize the scale and severity of an instance of genocide. Denial is an integral part of genocide and includes secret planning of genocide, propaganda while the genocide is going on, and destruction of ...

by scholars he had consulted like as

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV (TV network), ITV crime-action television drama series ''The Professionals (TV series), The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://znetwork.org/ Political magazines published in the United States Alternative magazines Monthly magazines published in the United States 1987 establishments in the United States Publishing collectives Magazines established in 1987 Communications and media organizations based in the United States Organizations based in Massachusetts Magazines published in Massachusetts

History

Publications and authors

Criticism

See also

References

External links