Mark Coatney – Newsweek’s Voice On Tumblr.com – Has "Left the Building"

Mark Coatney, editor at Newsweek and primary blogger at Newsweek’s Tumblr presence, has quit his Newsweek job today to join the Tumblr Staff. Before Newsweek, Mark has worked as a writer and editor for Time magazine and was also one of the founders of its Website, Time.com.

In a poignant blog post titled – “exit” Mark talks about the difficult decision he had to make, to dump Newsweek for Tumblr.

His new role, he says.

…will be to take the lessons I’ve learned at Newsweek and bring them to other media outlets. The mission is to show how this platform can be key to connecting journalists and readers, making the process more engaging and conversational. The approach will be the same that I’ve taken in creating the Newsweek Tumblr: That the most important thing for any publisher is to first be a full, participating member of the community, and that the main focus should be on meeting the needs of that community, not self-promotion.

In a somewhat strange (ironic?) twist, Mark’s personal blog is still hosted on the World’s most popular blogging platform and Tumblr competitor – WordPress!

I mean what does that do for the branding of a role like this? Just sayin!

Anyways, I wish Mark good luck in his new job and hope he accomplishes his goal of engaging and “meeting the needs” of the New Media Journalists Community!