''New Times'' was an American glossy bi-weekly national newspaper published from 1973 to 1979 by George A. Hirsch.

History and profile

Hirsch had been publisher of ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine, but resigned after conflicts with founder/editor Clay Felker. ''New Times'' began as a bridge between the newsweeklies and the more reflective monthly opinion magazines, notably '' Harper's'' and ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''. The first issue appeared in October 1972. Initially, the magazine featured a marquee roster of the era's best-known "new journalists," including

Jimmy Breslin James Earle Breslin (October 17, 1928 – March 19, 2017) was an American journalist and author. Until the time of his death, he wrote a column for the New York ''Daily News'' Sunday edition.''Current Biography 1942'', pp. 648–51: "Patterson, ...

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture ...

, Jack Newfield,

Mike Royko Michael Royko Jr. (September 19, 1932 – April 29, 1997) was an American newspaper columnist from Chicago. Over his 30-year career, he wrote over 7,500 daily columns for the ''Chicago Daily News'', the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', and the ''Chicago ...

, and Dick Schaap. However, as the magazine's ad revenues lagged, contributions from the big names soon dried up, and under the skilled editorship of Jonathan Z. Larsen, ''New Times'' shifted to an investigative approach, offering pieces on the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

congressional committees A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the ...

, political spying, activism, the murder of

Mary Pinchot Meyer Mary Eno Pinchot Meyer (; October 14, 1920 – October 12, 1964) was an American painter who lived in Washington D.C. She was married to Central Intelligence Agency official Cord Meyer from 1945–1958, and became involved romantically with P ...

, the cult or system of psychological training est and the JFK assassination "cover up". Contributors were up-and-coming freelance writers, many just out of college, including currently celebrated authors and media figures such as Geoffrey Wolff,

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is curren ...

, Nina Totenberg, Harry Stein, Roger Rapaport, Sam Merrill, David Black, Robert Ward, Tony Schwartz, Marshall Frady, J. Anthony Lukas, Joe McGinniss, Mike Royko, Studs Terkel, Nicholas von Hoffman and Ron Rosenbaum. Robert Sam Anson was Political Editor. The late NBC television executive Brandon Tartikoff was an occasional contributor. Typical of the magazine's later direction, one issue featured a cover depicting Bozo the Clown behind the Presidential podium, a broad comment on the mistakes and misadventures of then-President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

. Another issue saluted the 10 Dumbest Congressmen, judging Iowa's newly elected Republican Senator

Charles Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. In 2022, he ...

as the so-called King of Dumb. While ''New Times'' never found a sufficient base of advertisers, it was not for Hirsch's lack of publishing know-how. The final issue of the magazine was published on January 8, 1979. He launched ''The Runner'' magazine, one of the first of a new era of specialty "active lifestyle" monthlies in 1979, initially as a supplement to ''New Times''.

References

External links

*Phillip Nobile and Ron Rosenbaum
"The Curious Aftermath of JFK's Best and Brightest Affair,"
''New Times'', July 7, 1976, pp. 22-33. News magazines published in the United States Defunct political magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1973 Magazines disestablished in 1979 {{news-mag-stub