Editing Conservatism: How National Review Magazine Framed and Mobilized a Political Movement

This paper examines how National Review magazine helped to spark the 1960s American conservative movement through its particular framing of conservatism, and how the magazine has worked to sustain that influence even until today. Using research on frame alignment in social movements, the first issue of National Review is analyzed and placed in context with contemporaneous events and publications. The creation and editing of the magazine is found to parallel the creative and deliberate framing of the early conservative movement. The implications of National Review’s success for today’s political movements and for creators of political media messages are also discussed.