AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke
Two of The Washington Post’s top political journalists have left to join The Atlantic — as the storied newspaper continues to bleed talent at the close of a tumultuous year.
On Tuesday The New York Times reported that Washington Post correspondents Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer would be joining the staff of the magazine ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration. The Atlantic’s recruitment drive is reportedly part of a larger expansion with the outlet backed by billionaire investor Laurene Powell Jobs as it seeks to “hire roughly a dozen new reporters and editors to beef up its politics coverage,” according to a spokeswoman for the publication.
The publication’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, told the Times that he wanted the “best” journalists in the industry to position The Atlantic “to cover the incoming administration rigorously.”
Additionally, Puck correspondent Dylan Byers reported Monday that reporter Josh Dawsey and White House reporter Tyler Pager were two of several other Post staffers “mulling a transfer or have already decided to exit.”
The defections follow months of reported strain at The Post. A significant shake-up began in June when chief executive Will Lewis led a reorganization that preceded the departure of top editor Sally Buzbee. The wave of exits continued, with leading editor Matea Gold joining the New York Times and Shane Harris also heading to The Atlantic’s expanding roster.
The Post faced an exodus of columnists in October after the newspaper was prevented from endorsing a presidential candidate ahead of the election in a further episode that saw it lose over 200,000 subscribers.
In an apparent effort to push back against the narrative that the paper’s top staff is running for the hills, The Post is investing in fresh blood — bringing on intelligence reporter Warren Strobel and standards editor Karen Pensiero.
