Richard Pollak, Founding Editor of Media-Critical Magazine More, Dies at 91

Richard Pollak, the founding editor of More, an irreverent journalism review that criticized mainstream press coverage in the 1970s, died on Dec. 27 in Stockholm. He was 91. His wife, Diane Walsh, confirmed his death while he was in hospice care. More launched in 1971 at a moment of intense public scrutiny of institutions.

The magazine, created by J. Anthony Lukas with funding from William Woodward III, cast a skeptical eye on coverage of the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon, the oil industry and powerful figures in business and media. Under Mr. Pollak’s editorship, More targeted outlets including The New York Times and Newsweek, published investigations such as a spiked Baltimore Sun story about Spiro Agnew, and pushed for greater transparency, including regular corrections.

Mr. Pollak later said his challenge helped prod The Times to begin a daily corrections section in 1972. Financial strains led to multiple sales of More and its eventual closure in 1978. Mr. Pollak left after an early sale but returned briefly as an associate editor before moving on to roles at The Nation in the 1980s and to book writing.

His 1997 biography, The Creation of Dr. B: A Biography of Bruno Bettelheim, was a critical account of the psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim. The book accused Bettelheim of fabricating academic credentials, embellishing research, and exaggerating aspects of his wartime experiences; it was partly inspired by a fraught encounter Mr.

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