Wired executive editor leaving for The Atlantic

Bob Cohn, the executive editor of Wired magazine, is leaving to take over The Atlantic’s Web operations, writes Jeff Bercovici of Conde Nast Portfolio.

Bercovici writes, “‘It’s going to be a huge challenge,’ acknowledges Cohn, who is moving from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., where The Atlantic is headquartered, and where he once served as Newsweek‘s White House reporter.

“Wired has been even more successful on the web than The Atlantic, attracting 19 million unique visitors a month (including visitors to several other properties it owns, such as Reddit and ArsTechnica.) But Wired‘s print and web operations aren’t integrated, and Cohn’s experience editing for the web is limited. Still, he says, having edited a magazine about technology, ‘I understand the relationship between tech and publishing and reader habits.’ (He’ll have help from Mike Nizza, formerly a key web producer and blogger for The New York Times.)

“Cohn’s departure could mean substantial changes for Wired, where his role is larger than that of most No. 2 editors. It’s likely that editor in chief Chris Anderson, who spends much of his time writing books and lecturing, will devote more of his focus to the magazine in the near future until Cohn’s responsibilities can be reassigned.”

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