Staffers Resign En Masse At 'The New Republic' Amid Planned Changes

We have more news today on The New Republic, which on Thursday announced that it was cutting its publication schedule, moving its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to New York and rebranding as a digital media company — decisions that prompted the departure of editor Franklin Foer and longtime literary editor Leon Wieseltier.

The majority of the magazine's masthead resigned Friday, including senior editors Julia Ioffe, Noam Scheiber, executive editors Rachel Morris and Greg Veis, and contributing editors Anne Applebaum and Jonathan Chait. (You can find the full list over at Politico.)

It has emerged that Foer resigned after discovering that TNR's owner, Chris Hughes, had already hired Gabriel Snyder, who previously held senior jobs at Bloomberg, The Atlantic's website and Gawker, as his replacement.

Politico reported that late Thursday several staffers gathered at Foer's Washington residence for what was described as "a funeral" for the magazine.

Ioffe, a longtime staffer, posted this note on Facebook, explaining the reason for her departure:

Hughes, writing on Twitter, said he was "saddened by the loss of such great talent. And, he added, "The singular importance of The New Republic as an institution can and will be preserved, because it's bigger than any one of us."

NPR's David Folkenflik tweeted about the developments at the magazine and what they mean. You can read them here, starting with his most recent tweet.

Folkenflik will be on NPR's All Things Considered this evening to discuss the changes at The New Republic. We'll post that audio as it becomes available.