Reuters hires Shafer to be columnist

Reuters editor in chief Steve Adler sent out the following staff announcement on Tuesday:

I am delighted to announce that Jack Shafer will be joining Reuters as a columnist.

Described as a “fearless media critic” by the American Journalism Review, Shafer has written the influential “Press Box” column for Slate since 2000. Shafer, who joined the trail-blazing online magazine before its launch in 1996 as its deputy editor, is known as much for his exhaustive research as for his insightful, graceful prose. As the AJR put it: “The curious thing about what Jack Shafer does is the people best equipped to evaluate him are his competitors, whose beats sometimes include one another. Ask them and they will put Shafer at or near the top of a short list of the best media critics in the country.”

Prior to working at Slate, Shafer spent 11 years editing two alternative weeklies – San Francisco Weekly and Washington City Paper — where he estimates he rewrote, massaged, or merely pressed the button on 500 features. At Reuters, Jack will continue to write his widely acclaimed media criticism and will also write about politics.  Jack, who is based in Washington, DC, will report to Reuters Opinion Editor James Ledbetter. Jack’s arrival at Reuters adds to a rapidly strengthening opinion and analysis bench. Award-winning writers David Cay Johnston and David Rohde have recently joined Reuters as columnists, Felix Salmon continues to set the pace among financial bloggers, and the Reuters column line-up includes regular contributions from Larry Summers and Mohamed El-Erian.

Shafer had been laid off last month by Slate.