Twenty-two years in the past, The Atlantic made the troublesome choice to cut back the variety of print points printed annually, dropping from 12 to 10, thus ending the run of what had been beforehand known as The Atlantic Month-to-month. The rise of the web, and The Atlantic’s incipient every day digital success, made this appear, I’m certain, like an apparent, unavoidable alternative. However the historical past of our journal is full of improbabilities, and at this time, extra folks subscribe to our print journal than at any time since its delivery in 1857.
It is because of this (amongst others) that we’ve determined to revive The Atlantic to month-to-month print publication, starting in January. I’m absolutely conscious of the broader, and miserable, tendencies within the journal enterprise, and in journalism usually. However The Atlantic continues to develop, primarily as a result of one of the best editorial crew in our trade produces glorious journalism on daily basis, and since we get to work in partnership with one of the best enterprise, promoting, circulation, and product groups within the nation. The choice to revive our print publication frequency to pre-internet ranges was not made evenly, nevertheless it additionally appeared logical, given the power and attain of our journal, and the extensive acclaim it receives. We imagine that our readers, subscribers, and journalists will profit from a return to month-to-month publication, and we imagine that this transfer will profit all of our platforms.
This has been, to this point, an excellent yr for The Atlantic. We crossed the million-subscription threshold; we grew to become worthwhile once more after working within the pink for a number of years; we received our third consecutive Nationwide Journal Award for Common Excellence, one thing no different journal has carried out on this century; and we’ve printed tales of unparalleled affect and class. However as I stated earlier this yr, I’ve by no means believed that resting on our laurels was an choice, for greater than a protracted weekend. Now we have a vital mission, and we’re in an unforgiving enterprise, and so we now have to proceed to develop and innovate and outpace the competitors every day.
As we improve our funding within the print publication, we’re additionally taking steps to strengthen our journalism throughout the board. As you all know, we not too long ago dedicated to increasing the expansion and attain of our well being protection, and three glorious employees writers have simply began with us. One new initiative I want to share with you at this time is a dramatic new dedication to report tales on the intersection of nationwide protection, expertise, and world battle. We are going to share particulars of this new funding within the weeks to come back, and my hope is that The Atlantic turns into the premier vacation spot for readers searching for training and illumination in these areas. We’re already an necessary supply for the neatest protection of expertise, AI, and international coverage; this new dedication will assure that we keep very far forward of the pack. The Atlantic has a protracted custom of journalistic excellence in these areas: Nathaniel Hawthorne was the journal’s Civil Struggle correspondent; Alfred Thayer Mahan invented the concept of a worldwide navy in our pages; Martha Gellhorn coated World Struggle II for The Atlantic; Einstein and Oppenheimer argued about atomic struggle in essays and articles; essays by Niebuhr, Du Bois, and Kennan, amongst others, modified and challenged conceptions of American energy.
This requires an excessive amount of work and creativity on the a part of each unit of this firm, however I am assured that our groups can meet the challenges forward. Nick and I are already desirous about the type of affect and attain The Atlantic can have after we purchase our two millionth subscriber.
We’re all stewards of this nice American establishment, and I contemplate myself fortunate to have colleagues who take this duty, and our mission, so significantly.
