Jacob Weisberg

The Slate family is getting bigger, and consquently, a restructuring is in order! David Plotz, longtime deputy for the thinky, contrarian Web magazine, is becoming the new chief editor of the site. He'll be the third editor of the 12-year-old site, succeeding Jacob Weisberg who succeeded Michael Kinsley. Weisberg will now oversee all the Slate Web sites in a role not dissimilar to Jim Kelly's current role at Time Life.

"I’ll be in charge of what we do: who works for us, who writes for us, how we cover it," said Mr. Plotz to Media Mob today.  read more »

I love Professor Juan Cole's site. He's been a leading voice against the Iraq war, he knows what he's talking about and he writes with sympathy for the Arab world from the standpoint of an international American who cherishes America's best interests. I trust his judgment.

But Cole is doing himself a disservice by getting so worked up about Christopher Hitchens's quotation of his statements about Iran on a listserv, a statement Cole thought to be private. Lately Cole has published his petulant emails to Jacob Weisberg, the editor of Slate (who brushed him off coolly and correctly). One claim Cole makes is that he was going to publish the statement himself, and Hitchens scooped him, and illegally and unethically deprived him of the value of his work. Yes, Hitchens scooped him, but I don't buy all the violations. I give Cole great credit for the lines that Hitchens printed (and attacked). I will look forward to what Cole has to say at greater length on the question. I think a lot more people will now be tuned to Cole, a good thing indeed. And how much money was he really going to make off these ideas? He says the listserv was a "small" group. How small? And what has Cole done about the real violation, the colleague who emailed his stuff to Hitchens. Give us some facts.

I generally can't stand Hitchens. I think he masks weak and sometimes vicious arguments on the war and related issues with tangential bloviations, self-satisfied turns of phrase and a grandiosity that yes, does seem vinous. On this matter, though, he's right. Someone leaked this stuff to him, he found it interesting and important. Go with it. And no, he doesn't have to call Cole for comment, as Cole demands.

If an idea is so important to you, any journalist will tell you—keep it close to the vest. That's the bottom line here: Cole has a lot to learn more about journalism.

P.S. And another lesson, Cole sent one angry email to Weisberg at 12:31 a.m., per the date stamp. Always a bad idea.

According to two sources with knowledge of Time magazine's search for a new managing editor, Time Inc. editor-in-chief John Huey has approached Slate editor Jacob Weisberg to see if he would be interested in the position.

"I shouldn't say anything about it," Weisberg said by phone. "I love my job and am happy where I am."

Time declined to discuss the subject of a replacement for current managing editor Jim Kelly. "We couldn't be firmer in saying Jim is the guy," Time Inc. spokesperson Dawn Bridges said. "People like to speculate. Jim has the honor of working for the flagship of Time Inc. and Time Warner. The name is on the building, and a lot of things come with that. One of those things is a bigger microscope." But according to multiple sources with knowledge of the search, Time is actively looking for a new managing editor. One source said that Huey has consulted Michael Kinsley, Slate's founding editor, about candidates to consider. According to another source, Time initially approached Weisberg this spring to discuss Time's Internet strategy. Since then, Huey reached out to Weisberg to discuss the managing-editor position.

--Gabriel Sherman

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