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The Progressive
Review (formerly the Idler and the DC Gazette) was first published
in 1964 and is one of the oldest alternative journals in America.
Regularly ahead of the curve, the Review has opposed federal
drug policy for over 40 years, was a lonely media voice against
the massive freeways planned for Washington, was an early advocate
of bikeways and light rail, supported neighborhood commissions
later adopted in DC, and helped spur the creation of the DC Statehood
Party and the national Green Party,
In November
1990 it devoted an entire issue to the ecologically-sound city
and how to develop it. The article was republished widely.
In 1992,
the Review's editor hosted a meeting at his home that led to
the formation of what is now known as Fair Vote, the leading
advocated for instant runoff voting.
Even before
Clinton's nomination we exposed Arkansas political scandals that
would later become major issues. Although our thorough coverage
of the story would get us into a lot of trrouble it remains one
of the most thorough and accurate accounts of the Clinton story.
We reported
on NSA monitoring of U.S. phone calls in the 1990s, years before
it became a major media story.
In 2003
editor Sam Smith wrote an article for Harper's comprised entirely
of falsehoods about Iraq by Bush administration officials.
The Review
started a web edition in 1995 when there were only 27,000 web
sites worldwide. Today there are over 170 million active sites.
Our 1990
article on the savings & loan bailout scandal was selected
by Utne Reader as one of the ten most under-covered stories of
the past decade.
In the
1990s, we began reporting on the dangers of electronic voting.
In 1987 we ran an article
on AIDS. It was the first year that more than 1,000 men died
of the disease.
In the
1980s, Thomas S Martin predicted in the Review that "Yugoslavia
will eventually break up" and that "a challenge to
the centralized soviet state" would occur as a result of
devolutionary trends. Both happened.
In the
1980s, we reported on the dangers of computerized voting and
suggested possible solutions including an independent review
of software and an adequate audit trail.
In the
1970s we published a first person account of a then illegal abortion.
In 1971
we published our first article in support of single payer universal
health care
In 1970,
we ran a two part series on gay liberation.
In 1970,
we proposed DC statehood and explained how it could be achieved.
We also proposed an elected district attorney which the city
would get in 2014.
In 1966
we published two articles on auto safety by Ralph Nader
In 1965
we called for the end of the draft.
In the
1960s we proposed community policing
Before
Obamacare was passed, we were one of the few progressive journals
warning of the serious problems it posed.
About
the editor
The Review is edited by Sam Smith, who covered
Washington under nine presidents, has edited the Progressive
Review for 49 years, has written four books (two at the request
of editors), been published in five anthologies, helped to start
six organizations (including the DC Humanities Council, the national
Green Party and the DC Statehood Party), was a plaintiff in three
sucessful class action suits, served as a Coast Guard officer,
and played in jazz bands for four decades.
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