Trouble Brewing At The Atlantic Online?
We're hearing that David Bradley's long-in-the-works Atlantic website relaunch may be on the rocks. The relaunch was described to job-seekers about a month ago as a "sure thing" to launch by mid-April, with all hiring completed by mid-March, and a tipster who applied for one of the positions at Atlantic Online sends along the following email from the Atlantic's Recruiting department today:
Thank you for your interest in The Atlantic Online positions. I wanted to get in touch to give you an update on the status of the openings. Given Chuck Todd's departure, we are placing these positions on hold as we make some internal decisions. When the positions open we will consider all of the applicants that were interested in the positions this time around.
Todd is was the editor-in-chief of National Journal's subscriber-only website The Hotline, and it seems he had been tapped to lead the Atlantic's relaunch, but fled back to his old job left this week to become the political director for NBC News. Our tipster also reports that co-editor Marc Ambinder (who had been an associate editor at The Hotline) might also be on the way out the door.
National Journal, like the Atlantic, is owned by David Bradley's Atlantic Media Company. Which also has a large stake in Harvard's non-alumni alumni magazine, 02138, which also seems to have been running into a spot of trouble lately. Of course, delayed website launches are nothing new; how long has Barry Diller been working on that Onion ripoff by now? But this might be one to keep an eye on, as Politico has been vacuuming up any and all political journalists who can put together a sentence, and Martin Peretz has been taking the rest. (Or at least, he's kept Ryan Lizza!) Maybe there's nothing left for poor David Bradley?
UPDATE: Not so, says Marc Ambinder! "Thought I am flattered that, on what must be an extraordinarily balky news day, my professional life would be subject to a Gawker item, I am happy to inform you that I (a) am not leaving (b) have no plans, intentions, desires or inklings, no inner thoughts, dreams or aspirations - no nothings, to leave, and, further, that (c) reports of Atlantic Politics' demise are also false."
