Liberty (1987)

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For other magazines named Liberty, see Liberty (magazine).

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Liberty is a leading libertarian journal founded in 1987 by R. W. Bradford (who was the magazine's publisher and editor until his death from cancer in 2005) in Port Townsend, Washington, and currently edited from San Diego by Stephen Cox. Unlike Reason, which is printed on glossy paper and has full-color photographs, Liberty is printed on uncoated paper stock and has line drawing cartoons by S. H. (Scott) Chambers and Rex F. "Baloo" May, no photographs except for advertisements, and only one extra color (blue), which is limited to the cover and occasionally a few ads.

Bradford had planned the launch of Liberty for several years during the 1980s, waiting, in part, for the development of desktop publishing software to make the endeavor cost-effective for a short-run periodical. The magazine achieved Bradford's target circulation by the end of the first year of publication. Started as an arm of his private publishing business, he turned the magazine over to a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation (under his control) in 1993. A few years later it moved from a bimonthly to a monthly publication schedule.

The magazine's list of editors at start-up included Murray Rothbard; Karl Hess joined soon after. Both wrote for the magazine and both were featured prominently in subscription advertising. Rothbard left the masthead in 1990, following his break with the Libertarian Party and his public move towards paleolibertarianism; Hess stayed with the magazine until his death.

From the beginning, Liberty gave extensive coverage to the history of the libertarian movement, repeatedly focusing on the biography and legacy of Ayn Rand. The magazine offered the first printing of Rothbard's pamphlet The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult as its first subscription bonus. John Hospers's two-part series "Talking With Ayn Rand" was among the magazine's notable early publishing coups. Characteristically, Bradford proudly juxtaposed scholarly, intellectual of writing from philosophers such as Loren Lomasky and Jan Narveson and economists such as Mark Skousen, Doug Casey, Leland Yeager and David Friedman with work by virtually unknown, young, and unprofessional writers. With few exceptions, the magazine does not pay writers for their contributions.