"The Atlantic will be the organ of no party or clique, but will honestly endeavor to be the exponent of what its conductors believe to be the American idea." —James Russell Lowell, November 1857
For more than 150 years, The Atlantic has shaped the national debate on politics, business, foreign affairs, and cultural trends.
The Atlantic is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher, founded in 1857 as The Atlantic Monthly in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 2006, The Atlantic has been based in Washington, D.C. Created as a literaryand cultural commentary magazine, it has grown to achieve a reputation for having a moderate mindset in its reporting. The magazine has notably recognized and published new writers and poets, as well as encouraged major careers. It has published leading writers' commentary on abolition, education, and other major issues in contemporary political affairs. The periodical was named Magazine of the Year by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) in 2016.
The first issue of the magazine was published on November 1, 1857. The magazine's initiator and founder was Francis H. Underwood, an assistant to the publisher, who received less recognition than his partners because he was "neither a 'humbug' nor a Harvard man". The other founding sponsors were prominent writers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson; Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; Harriet Beecher Stowe; John Greenleaf Whittier; and James Russell Lowell, who served as its first editor.
After experiencing financial hardship and a series of ownership changes, the magazine was reformatted as a general editorial magazine. Focusing on "foreign affairs, politics, and the economy [as well as] cultural trends", it is now primarily aimed at a target audience of serious national readers and "thought leaders". In 2010, The Atlantic posted its first profit in a decade. In profiling the publication at the time, The New York Times noted the accomplishment was the result of "a cultural transfusion, a dose of counterintuition and a lot of digital advertising revenue."
TheAtlantic.com, The Atlantic's flagship website, provides daily coverage and analysis of breaking news, politics and international affairs, education, technology, health, science, and culture. In addition to the print magazine and website, The Atlantic houses an editorial events arm, AtlanticLIVE; Atlantic Re:think, its creative marketing team; and Atlantic Media Strategies, a creative agency and consulting firm.
The Atlantic's current editor in chief is Jeffrey Goldberg and its president is Bob Cohn. Hayley Romer is publisher and Scott Stossel is editor of the magazine. The Atlantic is part of the portfolio of Washington, D.C.-based media company, Atlantic Media, which is owned by David Bradley.
