March 1st, 2010
I’ve long believed that Michael Kinsley was the least-gracious guy in journalism. Well Andrew Sullivan wants a shot at the title. The Atlantic has redesigned its website and Sullivan doesn’t like it. Not one bit. So he’s made his criticisms public.
To be this insulting not only to the people you work for, but work with . . . it’s just breathtaking. At this point, David Bradley must be like some kind of battered wife.
You don’t understand what it’s like with Andrew when it’s just the two of us alone together–he’s so smart and counterintuitive. When he shreds the magazine’s credibility and pisses all over those other drones . . . that’s as much my fault as it it his. I should have asked him about the redesign first. I should have made him a bigger part of the long-range planning of the institution. That’s why he lashed out like that. If only I could really prove to him how much I love him, then everything would be perfect. Oh God! I just realized we took the green away! Now the Islamic Republic of Iran will never fall and it’ll be my fault. He’s going to be so mad. Maybe I could stay with my sister . . .
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The part that I thought was funniest was where he went nuclear on The Atlantic Wire for trying to replace his blog. The Atlantic Wire has been around for a few months now, and he just realized it exists?
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I love the fact that he feels that the Dish was the conduit to the other bloggers. Maybe for some people it was, but I made a point to avoid the dish when I read Goldberg and MCardle. That being said, it's a terrible redesign. I really hate it and it will almost certainly result in me visiting the site less often.
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Goldblog takes it to the next level: http://www.theatlantic.com/personal/archive/2010/03/responding-to-andrews-atlantic-anger-blogging/36844/hilarious.
skinsfanpg March 2, 2010 at 1:25 am
The entire redesign is a debacle on so many levels.1- It looks awful. It's a navigation nightmare2- They've essentially segregated The Atlantic, with its storied history, into two sections: Andrew Sullivan, and everyone else.3- They are using a pathetic trick to increase page views and theoretically increase ad revenue as a result. Won't work.But really, the big mistake is #2. They've ceded the brand to Sullivan. It would be like The Yankees signing Manny Ramirez or some other nut, then abandoning all institutional rules that make the organization what it is. Then, to add insult to injury, you make the rules much more strict for everyone else on the team. That is what The Atlantic Monthly did.