The Atlantic Expands with New Section on the American Family

Led by Rebecca Rosen, new initiative to report on the cultural, political & economic forces shaping America’s families

Washington, D.C. (March 20, 2018)—The Atlantic today introduces a new Family section at TheAtlantic.com—the centerpiece of an expansive, multi-platform reporting initiative on the cultural, political, and economic forces shaping America’s families. Along with a growing reporting team dedicated to this ambitious digital coverage, The Atlantic’s focus on family will include stories in the magazine, video, a weekly newsletter, and live events.

“The Atlantic was founded to interrogate the most urgent issues in America,” said editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. “The questions facing families—how to raise children, how to sustain equality, how to balance tradition and change, what legacy we'll leave future generations—are questions that are also shaping the nation.”

Led by longtime Atlantic editor Rebecca Rosen, Family is the first expanded editorial initiative to launch following the announcement last month that The Atlantic is embarking on significant newsroom growth in 2018. Rosen, a well-established editorial leader and strategic thinker at The Atlantic’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, takes on editing of the Family section as well as education coverage at TheAtlantic.com. Since 2014, she has been editor of The Atlantic’s business section. Rosen and Adrienne LaFrance, editor of TheAtlantic.com, are in the process of recruiting a deputy editor and reporting team dedicated to this coverage.

The Atlantic has long provided readers with essential and sophisticated journalism about the building-block unit of civilization: the family. In 1932, Helen Keller wrote for The Atlantic of the effect machines had on kitchen work, as a pretext for a deeper exploration of the relationship between humans and technology, and between women and men. Throughout the 20th century, The Atlantic chronicled the country’s shifting norms around gender, marriage, and child-rearing. More recently, Hanna Rosin’s “A Boy’s Life,” Dan Slater’s “A Million First Dates,” Barbara Bradley Hagerty’s “When Your Child Is a Psychopath,” and Jean Twenge’s “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” have shaped the national conversation.

The Family section launches today with stories about the evolving perception of marriage in America, teaching children about racism, and how there’s less of a one-size-fits-all approach to modern parenting. The section includes a letters-based advice column, “Dear Therapist,” penned by author and psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb. The weekly advice column will be based on reader submissions, which are now being accepted. (Advice seekers can email Gottlieb at [e-mail].) This Saturday also begins a weekly newsletter, “The Family Weekly,” offering stories and insights to help readers navigate the world as a family.

In late February, The Atlantic announced plans for a large-scale expansion over the coming year that includes as many as 100 new staff and investments across its divisions and platforms. Additional areas of editorial focus include expanded coverage of Hollywood and culture, and of technology and Silicon Valley, a new Ideas section, and a significant infusion to politics and policy reporting staff in Washington. Other dedicated coverage areas at TheAtlantic.com include global, business, education, health, and science. The Atlantic is also doubling both its product and data and analytics teams, and will experiment with innovative consumer revenue models, among other initiatives.

Morgan Stanley is the exclusive underwriter of The Atlantic’s new Family initiative.

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