1970s AD

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Sept 1, 2002

Imagine an early 1990s Spy, late-'60s Rolling Stone, a vintage Atlantic Monthly, and a Harold Hayes-era Esquire rolled into one. Such a hybrid existed in the mid-1970s: a robust and feisty bimonthly mag called New Times. The stories were explosive for the day. The first tales of JFK, Judy Exner, the CIA, and the mob.

The ongoing hunt for Patty Hearst. The secret files of Howard Hughes. Why bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger was destined to become Hollywood's next big sex symbol (see October 15, 1976). Environmentalism coverage was also way ahead of its time, though contributor James S. Kunen still blames a dead fish cover photo on the May 13, 1977 issue for a precipitous drop-off in readers. The editing staff, columnists, and freelancers grew to become leaders in their fields: Frank Rich, Susan Lyne, Robert Scheer, Peter Kaplan, Robert Sam Anson. "We were alternative media, but on a large scale," recalls top editor Jonathan Z. Larsen. According to Larsen, however, the epic journalism was toppled by a crummy circ and promo department. "The magazine got off to a hideous start and never recovered," he says. "It lost money all along." Copies of the doomed, but era-defining, publication are frequently offered on eBay for as little as $7.99.