Daily Beast editor in chief John Avlon is leaving the website to become a full-time political analyst at CNN. He will be replaced by Noah Shachtman, who currently serves as executive editor. In a memo to staff, Shachtman wrote that he is excited to be the website’s third editor in chief. “The first chapter of The Beast’s history saw an astonishing launch—followed by the Newsweek merger. In the second chapter, we parted ways with the magazine, reestablished our foundations, and then, improbably, turned this place into a scoop machine,” he writes. “Chapter three is poised to be the best one yet. I can’t wait.”
At Columbia Journalism Review, Pete Vernon explains how the recent ruling that Trump cannot block other Twitter users will affect other politicians.
BuzzFeed News’ Ben Smith looks at Elon Musk’s recent criticisms of the press and argues that both Musk and Zuckerberg’s attitude toward media reveals “how little the tech barons shaping the new ways we live and consume information understand about journalism.”
Taffy Brodesser-Akner reflects on Philip Roth’s legacy and how his writing shaped the American Jewish experience. “With every book, with every question, with every overt display of ambivalence and disgust, he was affirming to us that we were contenders,” she writes. “Like our experiences deserved to be considered and judged. Like we belonged here.”
At Literary Hub, Karl Taro Greenfeld wonders how he ended up a “minor writer” rather than a major one. “It could be a lack of talent. I could be bad luck. Perhaps a combination,” he writes. “I’m not asking for sympathy or pity. I am merely identifying a common enough condition: I didn’t become what I dreamed.”