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This article is about the British weekly magazine: there are articles on several other magazines called "The Spectator" such as Addison and Steele's influential literary magazine, The Spectator (1711), and the others can be found at The Spectator (disambiguation). See also The American Spectator magazine. The Spectator is a British magazine, established in 1828 and published weekly. It is owned by the Barclay brothers, who also own The Daily Telegraph, and claims to be the oldest continuously-published magazine in the English language. Its principal subject area is politics, about which it generally takes a robust and even provocative conservative line. The magazine also has extensive arts pages on books, music, opera, and film and TV reviews. Editorship of The Spectator has often been a route to high office in the British Conservative Party; past editors include Iain Macleod, Ian Gilmour and Nigel Lawson, all of whom became cabinet ministers. Editorship can also be a springboard for a greater role in public affairs, as with Boris Johnson (1999 to 2005) who is still a bon-vivant minor celebrity in Britain, despite having moved on to a more serious role as Shadow Minister for Higher Education.
Policy positions From its founding in 1828 the Spectator has always taken a pro-British line in foreign affairs; such was the case in 1904 when it raised concerns about the anti-British and Pan-Asian attitudes prevalent amongst Indian students in Japan. Like its sister publication The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator is generally Atlanticist and Eurosceptic in outlook, favouring close ties with the United States rather than with the European Union, and it is usually supportive of Israel. However, it has expressed strong doubts about the Iraq war, and some of its contributors, such as Matthew Parris and Stuart Reid, express a more Americosceptic, old-school conservative line. Other contributors such as Mark Steyn argue from a neoconservative and usually pro-Bush position. Like much of the British press it is critical of the unilateral extradition treaty that has condemned the Natwest three to extradition without a prima facie case, and the magazine recently devoted a leading article to lambast the US Senate Cultural positions Although writing about popular culture is not a priority for The Spectator, it is one of the few remaining magazines where one can still find an old-fashioned rant against rock music (e.g. "It's all just noise"). "Culture" for The Spectator tends towards gallery openings, new opera productions and the like. It does have a "television and cinema" section, pages most often given over to personal soliloquies by writers such as the novelist James Delingpole, who spends more time lamenting how poor and unsuccessful he is than he does reviewing television programming. The Spectator tends to follow its educated-and-conservative target audience's fashions and social concerns: sourcing organic food at markets, the pros and cons of private education, hunting, etc. Certain British cultural establishments are also often favourably alluded to, such as the University of Oxford (alma mater of many Spectator contributors), Ascot and White's. Contributors Although there is a permanent staff of writers, The Spectator has always had room for wide array of contributors. These have included Auberon Waugh, Jeffrey Bernard (the "Low Life" column) and Taki (the "High Life" column). Following Bernard's death, the "Low Life" column is now written by Jeremy Clarke. Joan Collins contributes regularly as Guest Diarist, as does Barry Humphries. The book reviews are often 'outsourced' to outsiders who are experts in the given subject, so consequently it is rare to see the same review author twice in as many weeks. The restaurant section is also an irregular piece. Recent times The magazine has prospered in recent times. Under former editor Boris Johnson and his appealing Wodehousian aura clumsy public relations did no harm. He resigned in December 2005, on taking up an appointment as Shadow Minister for Higher Education. The circulation was not at all hindered by the notoriety the magazine achieved after revelations about Johnson's affair with one of his columnists Petronella Wyatt, the extramarital adventures of its publisher Kimberly Quinn and affair of the associate editor Rod Liddle. The nickname The Sextator has gained some currency. Editors | ||||||||
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