Harper's Magazine - Controversies

Controversies

In his essay "Tentacles of rage: The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history," published in the September 2004 issue, Lewis H. Lapham was criticized for his reportage of the 2004 Republican National Convention, which had yet to occur. He apologized in a note.

The March 2006 issue contained the Celia Farber reportage, Out of Control: AIDS and the Corruption of Medical Science, presenting Peter Duesberg's theory that HIV does not cause AIDS. It was strongly criticized by AIDS activists, scientists, the Columbia Journalism Review, and others, as inaccurate and for promoting a scientifically-discredited theory. The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African organization working for greater popular access to HIV treatments, posted a response by eight researchers documenting more than fifty errors in the article.