On Thursday, two top editors of the liberal The New Republic magazine quit over a dispute with the magazine’s new owner about the publication’s future. The next day, nearly the entire Washington-based staff resigned in support of the editors. Now, the magazine will miss its December issue–its first missed publication date in 100 years.
On November 4, executive editor Franklin Foer and literary editor Leon Wieseltier officially resigned from their editorial positions. The pair were at odds with the magazine’s new owner, who wants to remake the magazine as a multimedia, Internet-based publication, instead of the strictly print-centric publication is has been for 100 years.
So on the 100th anniversary of the magazine’s founding, the editors quit and new owner, Facebook billionaire Chris Hughes, announced several major changes, including the news that he was moving the magazine’s base of operations from Washington, D.C., to New York City.
On Friday, November 6, a long list of senior and contributing editors joined Foer and Wieseltier by submitting their own resignations. More than 25 staffers resigned.
Now, because of the large number of resignations, the magazine’s management has announced that the long-running liberal magazine will miss an issue publication date for the first time in its 100-year history. The December 15 issue will not go to press.
“As you know, an issue that was in production by recently departed editors and writers, scheduled to appear on newsstands on December 15th, was left unfinished,” said The New Republic’s chief executive, Guy Vidra, as reported in Politico. “Despite the incredible work you all are doing, going forward with the issue would run the risk of falling short of this institution’s renowned high standards.”
The next issue of the left-wing publication won’t hit stands until February 2 of next year. The new owner will also cut the run from 20 issues annually to only ten. Subscribers who have already paid, however, will not be shorted any issues and will have their subscription times extended to cover their initial 20-issue purchase.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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