The publication, which had its headquarters in the very liberal city of San Francisco from 1962 to 1975, was the flagship for what many have dubbed, "The New Left." During its hay day, the magazine featured and received contributions from esteemed liberal minds like Noam Chomsky, Cesar Chavez and Angela Davis.
Perhaps the most important breakthrough Ramparts achieved during its 13-year span as a publication was making their magazine accessible to those who may have been intimidated by the more gritty and hardcore leftist publications of the era. Unlike many of Ramparts' alternative counterparts, it managed an expensive production budget and professional design.
So why should you care about an alternative publication that's been long extinct? Simple, really. With mainstream and corporate media outlets being suffocated and cut down by a lack of profits and a lack of connection with the public, the Rampart serves as a model for new publications. The growing absence of these mainstream sources of news and opinion leave a void that could be filled by new media publications, not unlike the role Rampart served during its era.
Rampart Magazine was able to succeed and hold the public's attention at a time when the major corporate news outlets where at the height of their popularity. Just imagine what kind of impact of impact an alternative news outlet with the right model could have with this much mainstream journalism blood in the water.
While Rampart provides a good example on how to run an alternative news publication, its influence was not simply economical. It was one of the first publications to voice dissent against the Vietnam War, while also giving a platform to many fringe figures of the time like Che Guevara and Cesar Chavez, something mainstream media outlets didn't have the backbone or permission to do.
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