Policy as Narrative
American Prospect co-founder discusses magazine's evolution

Fall 2004, Volume 26, Number 2

Paul Starr

In a May 19 roundtable discussion at IPR, Paul Starr, co-founder of The American Prospect, spoke about how political and social influences have shaped the evolution of this progressive magazine.

Since its 1990 founding by Starr, columnist Robert Kuttner, and Robert Reich, Clinton’s former labor secretary, Prospect has evolved from a quarterly journal into a monthly magazine focused on voicing liberal viewpoints on public policy, politics, and society. While the magazine has yet to break even, it seems to be gathering steam.

Starr said he expects paid circulation to increase to 65,000, up from 55,000, by the end of the year, and hopes that the launch of a new paid Web subscription model will help to cut the operating losses that have to be made up by fundraising every year.

The American Prospect also sponsors Moving Ideas, an online network of more than 130 advocate groups and research institutes. The Institute for Policy Research is a member of movingideas.org.

Starr places the magazine—particularly its monthly “special reports,” each on a different policy topic—at the intersection of journalism and academic research, with its goal being to “fill in the story behind the data and make the data more understandable to the public.” Many articles are written by academics or researchers who have a knack for translating reams of data, analysis, and technical jargon.

Interestingly, he revealed that the magazine was originally conceived to create a flagship journal for liberal thought—and had even taken cues from how the conservative movement had developed and spread its influence.

“They did not develop through large circulations,” Starr said, “but through relatively small publications that influenced opinion leaders.”

He conceded that right-leaning foundations like the Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation possess “extraordinary power” but noted that those on the opposite site of the political spectrum such as the Century Foundation “have a lot of vitality” as well.

For Starr, growing partisanship in policy publications reflects a rise in political polarization. He finds that the two major parties have become much more sharply divided on ideological lines than they were in the past, and much of the media reflects the same pattern. This intensification of partisanship has occurred because “partisan control in D.C. has real consequences,” he said. “Party-line voting [in Congress] is now greater than it has ever been—higher than any year since 1960.” But at the same time, he noted, “The public’s identification with parties is down.” How to write about policy under these paradoxical conditions presents an enormous challenge, he added.

Paul Starr is professor of sociology at Princeton University and a Pulitzer-prize winning author. His most recent book is The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communications (Basic Books, April 2004).