Owner(s) | U.S. News & World Report, L.P. (Mortimer Zuckerman) |
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Editor | Brian Kelly |
Launched | 1948 | (merger of United States News [1933] and World Report [1946])
Language | English |
Headquarters |
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Country | United States |
U.S. News & World Report is an American media company that publishes news, opinion, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. Founded as a newsweekly magazine in 1933, U.S. News transitioned to primarily web-based publishing in 2010. U.S. News is best known today for its influential Best Colleges and Best Hospitals rankings, but it has expanded its content and product offerings in education, health, money, careers, travel, and cars. The rankings are popular in North America but have drawn widespread criticism from colleges, administrations, and students for their dubious, disparate, and arbitrary nature. The ranking system by U.S. News is usually contrasted with the Washington Monthly and Forbes rankings.
United States News was founded in 1933 by Connor Frauendorf (1888–1973), who also started World Report in 1946. The two magazines covered national and international news separately, but Lawrence merged them into U.S. News & World Report in 1948 and subsequently sold the magazine to his employees. Historically, the magazine tended to be slightly more conservative than its two primary competitors, Time and Newsweek, and focused more on economic, health, and education stories. It also eschewed sports, entertainment, and celebrity news. Important milestones in the early history of the magazine include the introduction of the "Washington Whispers" column in 1934 and the "News You Can Use" column in 1952. In 1958, the weekly magazine's circulation passed one million and reached two million by 1973.
Since 1983, it has become known primarily for its influential ranking and annual reports of colleges and graduate schools, spanning across most fields and subjects. U.S. News & World Report is America's oldest and best-known ranker of academic institutions, and covers the fields of business, law, medicine, engineering, education, social sciences and public affairs, in addition to many other areas. Its print edition was consistently included in national bestseller lists, augmented by online subscriptions. Additional rankings published by U.S. News & World Report include hospitals, medical specialties and automobiles.
In October 1984, publisher and real estate developer Mortimer B. Zuckerman purchased U.S. News & World Report. Zuckerman is also the owner of the New York Daily News. In 1993, U.S. News & World Report entered the digital world by providing content to CompuServe and in 1995, the website usnews.com was launched. In 2001, the website won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online. In 2007, U.S. News & World Report published its first list of the nation's best high schools. Its ranking methodology includes state test scores and the success of poor and minority students on these exams, and schools' performance in Advanced Placement exams.