On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015

New editor says TNR will be 'more diverse'

Gabriel Snyder issued his first editor’s note as head of The New Republic on Monday, promising that the magazine will survive the latest turmoil and be home to more ambitious and diverse journalism.

“The New Republic has always been both in love and at war with its prior self,” Snyder, a former editor of The Atlantic Wire who replaced Frank Foer earlier this month as the editor, wrote in the note. “The magazine’s early decades were marked by abrupt ownership changes, unceremonious dismissals of editors, shifting policy positions, and uprooted headquarters, all accompanied by masthead upheavals.”

The majority of The New Republic's masthead resigned en masse during the first week of December after the owner's decision to force out the editorial leadership, move the magazine to New York and rebrand the venerable, century-old publication as a "digital media company."

(Also on POLITICO: New York Times: Prosecute Cheney)

Snyder also announced a crew of new contributors to upcoming issues including Ann Friedman, Batya Ungar-Sargon, Cathy Park Hong, Inga Safron, Jazmine Hughes, Jeff Ball, Thomas Rogers, Jen Doll, William Giraldi and Jeet Heer. Snyder wrote that these new voices and experts will “be diverse in race, gender, and background.”

“As we build our editorial staff, we will reach out to talented journalists who might have previously felt unwelcome at The New Republic. If this publication is to be influential, and not merely survive, it can no longer afford to represent the views of one privileged class, nor appeal solely to a small demographic of political elites,” Snyder wrote.

In his note, Snyder recounted the many years of turmoil and change at the magazine, defending owner Chris Hughes and CEO Guy Vidra’s plans.

(Also on POLITICO: 'Story of the year': Police killings of blacks)

“[I]f our founders sat down today to settle on the best way to achieve this mission, they would not have picked a weekly printed magazine and ignored a vast array of digital publishing possibilities. And just like any publication with hopes of success in the world of 2014, they would want The New Republic to be better at welcoming into our fold readers, writers, and editors who reflect the American experience as it exists today,” Snyder wrote.

Follow @politico

Update: The characterization of the new contributors to the magazine has been changed to reflect that they will not necessarily be regular writers for the magazine.

Hadas Gold is a reporter at Politico.