The Guardian today announced that it has hired Matt Sullivan (@sullduggery) as its US opinion editor. The announcement was made by Guardian US editor-in-chief Janine Gibson.
Sullivan, who comes to Guardian US from the New York Times, will oversee the Guardian's US Comment is Free opinion section, and its growing roster of writers, including Ana Marie Cox, Gary Younge, Heidi Moore, Michael Wolff, Jill Filipovic and Chris Arnade. Sullivan will provide overall editorial direction, manage the US opinion team, and be responsible for commissioning a diverse and timely mix of opinion and commentary from a broad range of contributors.
At the New York Times, Sullivan was a staff editor charged with developing new digital products for The Opinion Pages, as well as assigning and editing daily op-eds. Prior to joining the Times, he was deputy editor of The Wire (formerly The Atlantic Wire), where he oversaw breaking news, led the site's coverage of the Newtown school shooting and the Boston Marathon bombing, and helped double the site's traffic in under a year. Previously, Sullivan was web director at Esquire, where he was nominated for two National Magazine Awards. At Esquire, Sullivan worked closely with a range of prominent writers, including Charles P Pierce, Tom Junod, Chris Jones, Scott Raab and Stephen Marche.
"Matt is a skillful editor. His wealth of experience bringing provocative and important voices to the web will help to sharpen our unique perspective and deepen our dynamic mix of thought-provoking voices. We're thrilled he's joining our growing US team," said Gibson.
"It's impossible not to get excited about the many new ventures pushing the boundaries of journalism right now," said Sullivan. "The Guardian has proven to be at the forefront of combining editorial authenticity with digital innovation; it commands a level of excellence with a US team that already feels like a grownup startup. I'm thrilled to keep building Comment is Free into a destination for the national conversation."
Sullivan will begin at the Guardian on February 10, and will be based in its New York City newsroom.
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Media Contact:
Gennady Kolker
Director of Media Relations, Guardian US
e: gennady.kolker@theguardian.com
t: 646-937-5878
About Guardian US
Guardian US is the Guardian's New York-based newsroom that covers American and international news for an online, global audience. Guardian US merges the innovation and energy of a startup with independent, groundbreaking, award-winning journalism and backing of the Guardian brand.
About the Guardian
Guardian News & Media (GNM) publishes theguardian.com, the third largest English-speaking newspaper website in the world (comScore, August 2013). Since launching its US and Australia digital editions in 2011 and 2013 respectively, traffic from outside of the UK now represents over two-thirds of the Guardian's total digital audience.