I'm not sure of the extent of Moyers' control over content, but it's hard to ignore his involvement.
Last winter [winter of 99], the magazine moved to change that thanks to a $5.5 million grant from Bill Moyers's Schumann Foundation. It underwent a dramatic redesign and changed its publication schedule from bimonthly to biweekly. Most significantly, it began to reinvent itself as a feistier, newsier political journal that, stylistically, more closely resembles The New Republic than Plato's Republic.
commondreams.org
I thought this bit from Kaus was funny.
Grim Prospects
How is Bill Moyers' pet mag like Enron?
By Mickey Kaus
Updated Monday, May 13, 2002, at 1:34 PM PT
The paleoliberal magazine The American Prospect, lavishly funded by the Bill Moyers-led Schumann foundation, was described in a previous item as "troubled." It turns out I accidentally understated the case. The Prospect, I've learned, is way more than "troubled" financially. It seems that a businessman placed by Moyers on the Prospect board, Michael Johnston, actually looked at the Prospect's books and, unlike Enron's accountants, sounded the alarm. The resulting financial crisis has insiders speculating that TAP might revert to bi-monthly or quarterly status, or even become a Hotline-like newsletter plus a Web site (Note to Moyers: Keep the blog!) .… Prospect managers have now decided to ask/beg Schumann to simply continue giving TAP money to maintain it as a biweekly. Fellow TAP-bashers might want to pay close attention to the next Schumann board meeting, on June 13th. … How is TAP like Vietnam? Why would Schumann keep sluicing money down the Prospect-hole, with no end in sight? Moyers' foundation may in fact have considered pulling the plug on TAP. But the magazine is now so associated with Schumann -- and with Moyers -- that they would be publicly humiliated if it suddenly collapsed or shriveled up (after they'd poured in many millions and reaffirmed their confidence in its leadership). They can't just pull out! They need to prop it up for a decent interval, Kissinger-style … Note to executive editor Harold Meyerson: This has been going on for weeks. Don't you think you should have been, like, told? … How is TAP like Ishtar? As for the Prospect's hope of being saved by a Hollywood celebrity – well, kausfiles has been talking to its extensive Tinseltown network, and wonders: Why would a cautious, publicity-conscious star like, say, Warren Beatty want to get involved in such a potential disaster? …
slate.msn.com
As for Josh Marshall, at least he had the good sense to get out of there... |
