The Monthly is one of a growing number of magazines to feature a continuing blog; the popular "Political Animal" was written principally by Kevin Drum for several years, with frequent guest contributions by the Monthly's current and alumni editors. In 2008, Steve Benen took over as lead blogger.
Annual college rankings
The Washington Monthly's annual college and university rankings (an alternative college guide to the U.S. News and World Report) began as a research report in 2005. It was introduced as an official set of rankings in the September 2006 issue. The rankings 1 are based upon the following criteria:
a. "how well it performs as an engine of social mobility (ideally helping the poor to get rich rather than the very rich to get very, very rich)"
b. "how well it does in fostering scientific and humanistic research"
c. "how well it promotes an ethic of service to country" 2.