Miles S. Rapoport, president of The American Prospect magazine, today announced that Kit Rachlis will become the magazine's new editor.
Rachlis' career in journalism spans almost 30 years, during which time he has been an editor at The Village Voice, the LA Weekly, the Los Angeles Times and most recently at Los Angeles magazine.
"We are thrilled to welcome Kit Rachlis to the Prospect," said Rapoport, who is also president of Demos, The American Prospect's publishing partner. "He is a superb editor and journalist, and brings the perfect blend of skills and experience to this position.
"Kit has an extensive background as a leader and innovator in thoughtful, exciting magazine, newspaper, and Web journalism. The American Prospect, for 21 years, has been at the cutting edge of dynamic policy and political writing. I am completely confident that he will lead the Prospect into its next great era of agenda-setting journalism."
Rachlis, who is currently a senior fellow at the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy at the Annenberg School for Communication at USC, began his career as arts editor at of the Boston Phoenix, a position he held from 1982 to 1984. He then spent more than four years as executive editor of The Village Voice. In 1988, Rachlis became editor-in-chief of the LA Weekly, where he led a team of writers and editors to national recognition.
Rachlis served as the Sunday Magazine senior editor for the Los Angeles Times, from 1994 to 1996. He then spent four years as Senior Projects Editor at the paper, overseeing high-profile feature articles for the front page, many of which won national awards, including a Pulitzer and a Livingston.
After leaving the Times in 2000, Rachlis spent nine years as editor-in-chief of Los Angeles and lamag.com. There, he overhauled the magazine's editorial focus and Web presence and positioned the monthly as a premier and award-winning publication. Los Angeles was a finalist for eight National Magazine Awards, the magazine industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.
Prospect Co-editor Robert Kuttner, who founded the magazine in 1990 along with Robert Reich and Paul Starr, said he was "thrilled" at Rachlis' arrival. "The need for the Prospect's clear and bold journalism is greater than ever. Kit Rachlis' commitment, leadership experience, and journalistic excellence are a perfect fit for where we need to go."
Rachlis begins his new position at The American Prospect on April 18, 2011, after relocating to Washington, D.C., from Los Angeles.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Rapoport, Rachlis, or Kuttner, see contact information.
The American Prospect was founded in 1990 by Robert Kuttner, Robert Reich, and Paul Starr as an authoritative magazine of liberal ideas, committed to a just society, an enriched democracy, and effective liberal politics. Since then, the Prospect has grown into a print journal with an average monthly readership of some 100,000, a special in-depth report in most issues, and a daily Web magazine with nearly 1 million unique monthly visitors.
In 2010, The American Prospect entered into a publishing partnership with Demos, a national public-policy research and advocacy center.
