David Talbot, founder of the online magazine Salon, stepped down as editor-in-chief and as the publishing company’s chief executive on Thursday — the same day the struggling company reported its first profit ever.
Talbot, a pioneer of online journalism, remains chairperson of the board of Salon Media Group. He relinquished the chief executive role to Elizabeth Hambrecht, who joined Salon in April 2003 as chief financial officer and was named company president seven months later.
Joan Walsh, Salon‘s former senior vice president and managing editor, is the new editor-in-chief.
”It’s an excellent time for me to move into a new role,” said Talbot, who is working on a book about John and Robert Kennedy.
”Betsy and Joan have been part of the leadership team that brought Salon new fiscal and editorial life, and I’m proud to be able to leave Salon in their hands.”
Talbot founded Salon in 1995 and helped steer the seminal and unabashed, liberal-leaning online publication as it rode the dot-com wave, launched its initial public offering of stock in 1999, then struggled to remain a viable business, shifting from being a free online magazine to a hybrid subscription-based, advertising-sponsored one.
On Thursday, for the first time in its history, Salon reported a profit. For its third quarter ended on December 31, the company earned $395 000 on revenue of $2,2-million, compared with a loss of $1,2-million on revenue of $1,3-million in the year-ago period. – Sapa-AP