Michael Tomasky is stepping down as editor of The American Prospect to pursue writing projects. Tomasky, 45, has led the editorial staff at the Prospect for three years and will finish work on the November issue. Thereafter, he will stay on as editor-at-large, and his work will continue to appear in the Prospect and on its Web site (www.prospect.org).
Harold Meyerson will become acting executive editor after the November issue is published. Meyerson, 56, is currently the magazine's editor-at-large. He was executive editor for the magazine in 2001 and 2002.
“Mike Tomasky has done a terrific job during the last three years,” said Benjamin Taylor, chairman of the Prospect board. “The magazine's profile in Washington has increased dramatically during Mike's tenure due in large measure to his brilliant writing and editing. We're grateful for all he's done, and thrilled that he will continue to write for the Prospect.”
Taylor added: “We're very lucky to have someone of Harold Meyerson's talent and experience to step in as executive editor.”
“I've had a wonderful three years,” Tomasky said. “My only regret is that I did have ambitions for the magazine that I came to think we wouldn't be able to realize now. But I think the magazine is in a strong position. I've been treated well by everyone. I'm extremely proud of the staff and the work we've published, and I look forward to continuing to contribute as a writer.”
“It's a privilege both to build on Mike's superb work and to take the helm again at the Prospect,” said Meyerson. “The magazine remains the standard bearer and re-inventor of American liberalism, and it's home to some of the most exceptional talents in journalism today. I'm confident we will continue to play a critical role in the evolution of the liberal project.”
Tomasky wrote a cover story in the May issue of the Prospect on the Democrats and the common good that touched off a national conversation on the Democrats' future. The piece received front-page coverage in The New York Times on May 9 and spurred a slew of op-ed columns.
Meyerson was executive editor of the L.A. Weekly from 1989 through 2001, when he moved to Washington to work for the Prospect. Since March 2003, he has been an acclaimed op-ed columnist for The Washington Post. He has contributed to a wide range of other periodicals and authored a biography of song lyricist Yip Harburg. A native of Los Angeles, he was educated in LA public schools and at Columbia University.
