Top Editors Quit The New Republic
Franklin Foer, the editor in chief of The New Republic, and Leon Wieseltier, the magazine’s longtime literary editor, have resigned over disagreements with the publisher and new CEO.
Foer told his colleagues in a memo Thursday that he was departing because Chris Hughes, The New Republic’s publisher and owner, and Guy Vidra, the CEO, have substantially different visions for the future of the publication, The New York Times reported. Hughes is a co-founder of Facebook and hired Foer after he bought the magazine in 2012.
The departures of Foer and Wieseltier were announced in a subsequent statement on Thursday issued by Vidra, the former general manager of Yahoo! News who was hired by Hughes in September.
Foer will be replaced by Gabriel Snyder, who has worked for Bloomberg Media, The Wire and Gawker, The New York Times reported.
Foer and Wieseltier are both Jewish. Foer is the older brother of novelist Jonathan Safran Foer. Wieseltier had been the literary editor of The New Republic since 1983.
The magazine has a history of Jewish editors and frequently covers Jewish topics and developments in Israel. Its past Jewish editors include Peter Beinart, Hendrik Hertzberg and Martin Peretz.
In July, the magazine published an in-depth story detailing how the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks fell apart.
Vidra’s statement also noted that The New Republic will move to an office in New York from its current location in Washington.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30