The Atlantic Nabs Washington Post Stars Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, Going Big on Politics Under Trump
The Atlantic magazine has nabbed two major journalism stars from The Washington Post at year’s end, senior political reporters Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer.
The magazine owner, Laurene Powell Jobs, the billionaire widow of Steve Jobs, was involved in recruiting these veteran talents from the Post, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The Post has suffered a major blow to its morale in the recent decision by owner Jeff Bezos not to endorse Kamala Harris, in opposition to his editorial page staff.
Bezos also recently met personally with president-elect Donald Trump, while the newsroom continues to search for a permanent editor in chief.
The Atlantic, a political weekly founded in 1857 and currently led by editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg, has been on something of a tear. In March, the company announced that it had crossed one million subscribers and had become profitable. In the wake of Trump’s reelection, The Atlantic says it will hire a dozen new reporters and editors.
“We believe in accountability journalism,” Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, told the Times. “We want to cover the incoming administration rigorously. I want to build our team with the best political reporters and editors I can find.”
The magazine now has 350 employees between its newsroom and on its business staff, according to the New York Times.
The Post continues to be riven by tension in its newsroom, since the paper’s CEO Will Lewis pushed out editor Sally Buzbee earlier in 2024, and installed Matt Murray, former Wall Street Journal editor, instead.
Matea Gold, a beloved editor who oversaw The Post’s national staff and other departments, recently left to join The New York Times’ Washington bureau.
The Atlantic also recently hired Shane Harris, a national security reporter, from The Post this summer.
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