(updated below - Update II)
After five-and-a-half highly fulfilling years at Salon, I will be leaving to join The Guardian beginning on August 20. My last day writing on a daily basis for Salon will be August 15. Politico's Dylan Byers has an article about the move here. I will write daily at the U.S. edition of The Guardian, which is based in New York, and will do so exactly the same way as I have here: with full editorial independence and the same type of readership involvement and support upon which I've long relied, including a vibrant comment section. In addition to the daily writing, I'll also write a more traditional once-a-week column there.
I have nothing but the highest regard for Salon and its commitment to independent and provocative journalism. When I first discussed the possibility of moving here back in February, 2007, my only nonnegotiable demand was that I enjoy full editorial independence. They have completely adhered to that arrangement -- not with passive tolerance, but active support and encouragement. Even when influential political and media figures vehemently complained about the criticisms I wrote, Salon's editors unfailingly stood behind my work.
Throughout my time here, Salon always evinced an unyielding belief in publishing a wide range of views without fear of offending orthodoxies or establishments, and they continue to do so. I'm as convinced as ever that Salon's future, its prospect for growth, is very bright. They have many excellent fresh voices, an institutional devotion to investigative reporting, and a willingness to take the type of risks which real adversarial journalism requires. I have immense respect for the people I've worked with here, including Editor-in-Chief Kerry Lauerman, former Editor Joan Walsh, and Salon Founder and former CEO David Talbot.
All of that made the decision to leave genuinely difficult. But sometimes sustaining one's passion and sense of challenge requires change. Beyond that, The Guardian affords the opportunity to reach a new audience, further internationalize my readership, and be reinvigorated in a different environment. As difficult as leaving Salon is, I'm excited by my new venue, and look forward to continuing the work with my readers which we've been able to do here so constructively over the past several years. I read Salon long before I began writing for it and expect to be reading it long into the future.
UPDATE: TPM's David Taintor and The New York Times's David Carr have more.
UPDATE II: The Wrap's Alexander Kaufman adds some more facts.
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