American Spectator

The American Spectator is a conservative-leaning American monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell and published by a non-profit organization called The American Alternative Foundation, which was founded in 1968. It is frequently referred to as a conservative tabloid because its stories tend to be more sensational than those of other conservative magazines such as National Review, and because a number of its better-known stories were later discredited.

The publication gained prominence in the 1990s by reporting on political scandals. The March 1992 issue contained an expose on Clarence Thomas accuser Anita Hill. A January 1994 article about Bill Clinton contained the first reference in print to Clinton accuser Paula Jones. Parts of both articles were later recanted by author David Brock. The second story caused the magazine's circulation to reach 300,000. By the year 2000, that circulation had dropped to 60,000.