The brilliant Mark Schmitt is taking the reigns of the Prospect. I know Mark (he wrote for me at TPMCafe), and can’t say enough good things about him as a writer, thinker, and all around great dude.
Mark, I hope, will shake up the often stale feeling labor/left editorial line at the magazine (stale not in ideology, which I basically am all for, but in tone and relevance). He’ll also hopefully help my fellow new media youngsters over there (Deputy Editor Ann Friedman, the essential Ezra Klein, etc.) keep pushing the Mag in a webby direction. He is, after all, a quite accomplished blogger.
Washington, D.C.—Mark Schmitt has been named Executive Editor of The American Prospect. Schmitt has been a contributor to the Prospect since 2001 and a columnist for the magazine since 2005, as well as a frequent contributor to its Web site and award-winning blog, TAPPED. He is currently a senior fellow at the New America Foundation where he helped to develop a new initiative on The Next Social Contract, a cross-cutting effort to find the underlying principles and policies appropriate to the emerging economy.
Before joining the New America Foundation in 2005, Mark was a program director at the Open Society Institute in New York for seven years. Previously, he served as policy director for Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, as well as a senior adviser on Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign. He is an expert on budget and tax policy, reform of the political process, and the history and role of ideas in politics.
In addition to appearing in The American Prospect, Mark’s writing has been published in The New York Times, The New Republic, Democracy, the Financial Times, and other publications, and he has contributed chapters to several books. His own blog, The Decembrist, was named one of the five best political blogs by Forbes magazine in 2003, and he has also been a regular contributor to TPM Café.
Prospect Board Chairman Benjamin Taylor said, “Mark is the right person at the right moment in the Prospect’s history and as the country appears ready to enter a new era of progressive politics. We’re thrilled to have someone with Mark’s extraordinary talents taking over the editorial reins at The American Prospect.”
“This is the moment for The American Prospect. TAP has seen the possibilities of a new progressive era since its first issue in 1990, and it will be central to the conversation in the years ahead. I’m thrilled at the opportunity to work with the current staff of the magazine, which includes some of the best young journalists anywhere, along with the brilliant founding editors, Bob Kuttner and Paul Starr, and Harold Meyerson,” Schmitt said.
Harold Meyerson will return to his role as editor-at-large to devote more time to writing features for the magazine. Schmitt will begin in his new role on July 14.
