Disrupting a Republic
After mass resignations, New Republic owner Chris Hughes talks about what went wrong and what's next
Jason Abbruzzese
The New Republic began to fall apart in the first week of December, conversation quickly turned to Chris Hughes, the Facebook cofounder who purchased the storied magazine more than two years ago.The magazine's top two editors resigned on Dec. 4. The next day, many of TNR's top journalists walked out. Former staffers penned a letter, decrying the move toward the publication's "destruction in all but name."In an interview with Mashable, Hughes provided some insight into why things went sour. Implicit to much of the discussion was TNR's fall from relevance, and that its future as a bastion of liberal thought and as a sustainable enterprise lay in bolstering its digital credentials. Hughes repeatedly returned to "impact" as a major theme of TNR's reinvention, as well as some regrets about just how things went down.
A conversation that I had wanted to have privately with our editor Frank [Foer] had to happen over the phone, and I regret how much of that was handled.
I don't really buy in to the strategy that more volume equal more eyeballs.
The world is changing and we can't remain a small print magazine for Washington if we want to have the influence that we've had historically.
Former TNR owner Martin Peretz (left) and editor Hedrick Hertzberg, pictured in Washington DC in August 1984.
Cynthia Johnson/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
I regret that they made the decision they did, but <em>The New Republic</em> is bigger than any one person and any one of us.
Editors' note: This interview was edited for length.