Atlantic President Scott Havens informed staff Wednesday that Gabriel Snyder would be leaving his position as editor of The Wire, which was until recently The Atlantic Wire.
Snyder, a former editor-in-chief of Gawker and executive editor of Newsweek's website, is joining a "VC-backed mobile start-up," according to the memo.
Andrew Golis, who joined The Atlantic in June as "entrepreneur-in-residence," will move into a new position as general manage of The Wire. Before joining The Atlantic, Golis worked as director of digital media at Frontline.
Havens full memo is below:
Good Afternoon Team,
I am writing to let you know of some upcoming changes at The Wire: Gabriel Snyder has decided it is time to jump headfirst into the "mobile revolution" and has accepted a position with a VC-backed mobile start-up. His last day will be January 23rd. Gabriel is one of the most entrepreneurial journalists I have worked with, so it doesn't surprise me that he would seize an opportunity like this. While we are saddened by his departure, we are fortunate to have Andrew Golis in our ranks, who will be stepping into the newly created post of General Manager of The Wire.
I am deeply grateful for Gabriel's tireless leadership these past three years as he helped guide The Wire's impressive growth and evolution. He has led an extraordinary team that has taken the brand to new heights, editorially and in its reach. I look forward to continuing our friendship and rooting for his new venture to flourish.
Earlier this winter, as you know, we relaunched The Wire with a refined mission, as well as a new name, URL, and look, and a mobile-first responsive design. The changes also represented a strategic business decision for us, formally establishing the site as an independent media brand in the marketplace. The second part of this plan has always been to invest dedicated business and technology resources to support the continued evolution of The Wire, which brings us to Andrew and his new leadership role. In this new post--itself a reflection of our excitement about the future of The Wire--Andrew will be charged with crystallizing the site's strategy, growing the overall team, and scaling the business.
In just six months as The Atlantic's entrepreneur in residence, Andrew has provided key strategic guidance to our Editorial and Digital Strategy teams, advising on our expanding video and paid-content initiatives, as well as several forthcoming new ventures.
Before joining us, Andrew was the Director of Digital Media and a Senior Editor at Frontline, where he oversaw two departments: Digital, which included editorial, strategy, design, and product development; and Audience Development, which included promotion, broadcast and digital audience research, and long-term audience strategy. Previously, Andrew was the Editor of Blogging and a Politics Editor at Yahoo News, where he built a network of originally reported blogs for the biggest digital news audience in the country. Before that, he was the Deputy Publisher of Talking Points Memo, where he helped manage that company's explosive editorial, audience, and business growth as it transitioned from a one-man blog to a fully staffed news organization.
You can see why Andrew is such a perfect fit for the next phase of The Wire.
As Andrew, James, and Bob search for The Wire's new editor, Elle Reeve, Dashiell Bennett, and Joe Reid will lead the site's editorial coverage. Individually and collectively, Elle, Dash, and Joe exemplify The Wire's mission and sensibility, and the site is in good hands with them.
We'll have a proper send-off for Gabriel closer to his last day, but, in the meantime, please join me in thanking him for his many contributions to The Wire. And please also join me in congratulating Andrew on his exciting new role.
Scott