A Matter of Opinion

Winner of the 2005 George Polk Book Award Victor S. Navasky is the renowned editor, writer, and educator who was at the helm ofThe Nationfor almost thirty years.A Matter of Opinion,a scintillating reflection on his experiences, is an extraordinary political document--and a passionately written, irresistibly charming account of a great journalistic tradition. Victor S. Navaskycame toThe Nationas editor in 1978, was made publisher and general partner in 1995, and is now publisher emeritus. The Delacorte Professor of Journalism at Columbia University and Director of the George Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism, he chairs theColumbia Journalism Review. He was the founder, editor, and publisher ofMonocle,an editor for theNew York Times Magazine,and a columnist for theNew York Times Book Review. The author ofNaming Names,which won the National Book Award in 1982, andKennedy Justice,he lives in New York City. Winner of the George Polk Award Winner of theAnne M. Sperber Prize How do we encourage and protect public discourse, so essential to democracy? What function, if any, do journals of opinionmagazines that critically assess the key issues of the dayperform in helping ideas to flow freely and citizens to think for themselves? These questions animate Victor S. Navasky's book, in which he ranges over his own experiences as a journalist and editor in quest of the answers. Navasky gravitated toward journalism when still in college, and as a law student at Yale he founded the now-legendary satirical magazineMonocle. Freelance writing and other journalistic work followed, including a stint atThe New York Times Magazinethat Navasky describes in these pages. His amused skepticism about the behavior of "mainstream media," about journalists who strive for but cannot ever attain a purported ideal of objectivity, has been in constant evidence throughout his long career as a gadfly, critic, and commentator. In 1978, when Navasky became editor ofThe Nation, the celebrated century-old journal of political opinion, he proudly confirmed his intention to continue its critical assessments of the news, thereby enriching our undernourished politics and culture. Navasky's shrewd accounts of the eternal battles over money and editorial control, over independence and market power, over responsibility and freedom in the press, are enhanced by unforgettable anecdotes about the brave and less brave, rich and poor, famous and little-known figures in the business of publishing newsand opinions about news. From I. F. Stone to Paul Newman, from Calvin Trillin to Jurgen Habermas, from William Buckley toMother Joneshere are characters in a drama that engages us all. "Anybody who has ever dreamed of starting a magazine, or worried that the country is losing the ability to speak seriously to itself, should readA Matter of Opinion."Thomas Powers,The New York Times Book Review "[A] graceful mix of memoir and meditation on journals of opinion and the stubborn enthusiasts who end up running them."Harper's Magazine "'Journals of opinion are not by themselves going to save the world,' Navasky admits, but, in nearly three decades of runningThe Nationand in four hundred-odd pages here, he remains a tireless evangelist for the idea that the world as we know itliberal, democratic, and Enlightenedwon't be saved without them and the public discourse they foster. Opinion magazines themselves, however, survive on the strength of their editors, or, as Navasky points out,

Victor S. Navasky came to The Nation as editor in 1978, was made publisher and general partner in 1995, and is now publisher emeritus. The Delacorte Professor of Journalism at Columbia University and Director of the George Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism, he chairs the Columbia Journalism Review. He was the founder, editor, and publisher of Monocle, an editor for the New York Times Magazine, and a columnist for the New York Times Book Review. The author of Naming Names, which won the National Book Award in 1982, and Kennedy Justice, he lives in New York City.