Time Magazine’s top editor, Richard Stengel, quit his position and traded in his private sector pin for a civil service badge as the newest member of the Department of State.
Mr. Stengel, who served as managing editor at the magazine, will be the next Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, pending Senate confirmation, Politico reported.
He will help manage “America’s public diplomacy outreach, which includes communications with international audiences, cultural programming, academic grants, educational exchanges, international visitor programs and U.S. government efforts to confront ideological support for terrorism,” the State Department’s website stated.
Time officials reported Mr. Stengel, who started at the magazine as a contributor in 1981 and was hired to the managing editor role in 2006, has been on leave since July. He took a year off in 1999 to serve as a speechwriter for Bill Bradley, who sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination for a White House run in 2000.
The magazine has struggled in recent years with falling revenues and dwindling readership. The Wall Street Journal reported that the magazine lost 7 percent of revenues and 25 percent of operating income in the past few years because of lost advertisers and subscribers.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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