Directly from First Look, via Business Wire…
March 10, 2014 06:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)—The Intercept, the digital magazine launched in February by First Look Media, today announced that John Cook will become the publication’s editor-in-chief. Cook will be responsible for daily editorial management of The Intercept and will work closely with founders Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill to ensure that their vision for high-caliber investigative reporting is carried out across the site.
Cook comes to The Intercept from Gawker, where he served as investigations editor before being named editor-in-chief. During his time at Gawker he broke the story of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's crack cocaine abuse, reported extensively on Fox News chief Roger Ailes' use of the network as a political messaging operation and, over the course of five years, played a key role in developing Gawker from a Manhattan media gossip site into a full-service national news outlet known for combining aggressive reporting with humor, sharp analysis and a penchant for spectacle. Eight of Gawker's top 10 months in terms of traffic occurred during Cook's tenure as editor…
Here’s more on this story from Tuesday’s NY Times…
…Mr. Cook’s hiring is the latest in a series of notable additions to First Look’s staff, including the Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi, who will be running his own digital magazine.
Like Mr. Taibbi, who has built a reputation as a brash and determined critic of Wall Street, Mr. Cook has enjoyed sparring directly with the subjects of his reporting, particularly Roger Ailes and Fox News. Mr. Cook shepherded the “Fox mole,” whose behind-the-scenes dispatches from inside the network in 2012 were popular on Gawker. (The mole was revealed to be an associate producer on “The O’Reilly Factor,” and was promptly fired.)
“We are trying to build an operation that takes risks,” said Mr. Cook of his and Mr. Taibbi’s hirings…
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