American Spectator Sold to George Gilder! I love it!
washingtonpost.com
"The American Spectator, the fiercely conservative journal launched 33 years ago by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., is being sold to economoist-turned-technology guru George Gilder.
If that seems like a strange fit, Gilder Publishing doesn't think so. In fact, the economist and a top aide envision a revitalized magazine--combining the disparate fields of politics and high tech--that, unlike the struggling Spectator, would actually make money.
"We're going to loosen up the editorial mission a little bit," says Richard Vigilante, a senior executive with Gilder Publishing. "We'll do more than cover politicians and politics--we'll write about spirited entrepreneurs, we'll publish some fiction. The magazine will be open to a broader audience and a broader set of advertisers."
Tyrrell will stay on as editor, says Vigilante, but will do more writing--which suggests a loosening of the reins tightly held by Tyrrell since he founded the Spectator as a campus rag at Indiana University.
Gilder, a onetime Nixon speechwriter, is a longtime pal of Tyrrell who's been advising and writing for the magazine for years. The two men praised each other in a statement, with Gilder saying he will be "helping Bob and the Spectator grapple with a new set of fascinating issues arising from the New Economy and the technology that drives it." |
