Thompson
The Atlantic announced Wednesday that Matt Thompson will leave NPR at the end of the year to join TheAtlantic.com as the site’s deputy editor.
Thompson has been with NPR since 2010, where he served as director of vertical initiatives and started the Code Switch blog, which discusses race, culture, and ethnicity. He also coordinated 12 local websites with NPR member stations and coauthored NPR’s ethics handbook.
“Matt is a force,” said J.J. Gould, editor of TheAtlantic.com, in a statement. “He’s creative about new media and their emerging potential, he’s serious about journalism as a public good, and he’s super-smart about the requirements of leadership in a digital organization.”
At The Atlantic, Thompson will work with Gould to oversee editorial operations and shape strategic development of the site.
Here’s what Thompson had to say on Twitter:
It’s true. I’m leaving one of my very favorite places (@NPR) for one of my very favorite places (@TheAtlantic). http://t.co/LtSrAeOYge
— Matt Thompson (@mthomps) December 3, 2014
There is so much tremendous work happening in every corner of @NPR. I could not be prouder of the place, or more excited for its future.
— Matt Thompson (@mthomps) December 3, 2014
Thompson is also an adjunct professor at American University and the vice-chair of the board at the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit organization for investigative journalism. (Current is an editorially independent service of the American University School of Communication.)
NPR lost another high-profile employee to The Atlantic earlier this year when Margaret Low Smith left her job as NPR’s senior vice president for news to become president of The Atlantic’s live-events business.