The Atlantic Hires Michael Owen as Deputy Editor of TheAtlantic.com

As The Atlantic continues rapid expansion in the newsroom and across the organization, editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and editor of TheAtlantic.com Adrienne LaFrance announced that Michael Owen has been hired as a deputy editor on the digital team. Owen most recently ran The New York Times’s news team responsible for digital presentation, programming, and audience strategies.

When Owen begins with The Atlantic in late January, he will join fellow deputy editors Swati Sharma, who came to The Atlantic in early 2018 from The Washington Post, and Gillian White, promoted to the position last month.

“We’ve been struck by Michael’s excellent editorial instincts, his creativity, and his intuitive sense of how people interact with internet journalism,” wrote Goldberg and LaFrance in a memo to staff. “He brings to us a rare combination of product-mindedness and editorial thinking—which will be instrumental in reaching our most challenging and exciting editorial goals.”

As a deputy editor, Owen will be focused on the intersection of editorial ambition and user experience, developing new strategies for higher quality and higher impact expressions of The Atlantic’s journalism. He’ll also work closely with senior editors on bringing more dynamic visuals and data into day-to-day coverage.

Owen has been with The New York Times since July 2011. Before his current role, he helped invent, launch, and edit the NYT Now app. He was previously at The Los Angeles Times as a homepage producer and at The Huffington Post as managing editor.

The Atlantic is in the midst of a company-wide expansion, with the most significant investment in the newsroom. Goldberg recently announced the promotions of Don Peck to be the top print editor of the magazine, and Denise Wills, who had been features editor of the magazine, stepped into the role of deputy editor. Recent editorial hires include George Packer as a staff writer; Jemele Hill as a staff writer on sports, politics, and culture; Yara Bayoumy as a senior editor leading national security coverage; and Amanda Mull as a staff writer covering health.

from The Atlantic https://ift.tt/2CcVB7j