What are the chances?
We all know the types of readers who comment on our stories. They can be colorful, brash, funny and incredibly insulting in the most demonic of ways. For instance, a few commenters from this morning on my story about an update on Sen. Harry Reid‘s injuries after falling off an exercise machine: 1. “HA! SOMEBODY TOLD THIS OLD FART NOT TO SHOW HIS FACE OR THEY’LL FINISH THE JOB!” 2. “Still sounds like a drunken driving cover up. You don’t get those kind of injuries in a gym.”
The Atlantic draws a well, more academic sort of readership. Which is why Yonni Applebaum has been tapped to be the magazine’s new politics editor. He’s been a lecturer at Harvard. He has a PH.D. in American History from Brandeis. Applebaum has been a frequent commenter to the site, specifically, the release states, to stories by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Coates loudly sings his praises.
“Yoni was essential to the last two or three pieces I wrote for the magazine—reading them and offering rigorous academic critique,” says Coates. “He’s proof that there is wisdom everywhere: that it’s possible to find someone like him in a comments section online. We’re getting someone who has been a part of The Atlantic for a long time. There’s no one like him in the world of journalism; he’s an original.”
Other changes at the mag: Sophie Gilbert is now culture editor. Other promotions include David A. Graham, who was politics channel editor, and Spencer Kornhaber, who was entertainment channel editor, to staff writer roles, in which they will cover political and global news, and pop culture and music, respectively.