Bob Cohn

Summary

Bob Cohn (born April 18, 1963), is an American journalist and media executive who became CEO of The Baltimore Banner[1] in February 2024. He previously served as president of The Economist[2] and The Atlantic, was a top editor at The Atlantic and Wired, and worked as a Washington correspondent at Newsweek.

Bob Cohn
Cohn in 2017
Born
Robert Cohn

(1963-04-18) April 18, 1963 (age 60)
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Journalist and media executive
TitleCEO of The Baltimore Banner
SpouseSharon Dennis

Early life edit

Cohn grew up in Chicago and graduated from Stanford University. He has a Masters in the Study of Law from Yale Law School, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow.[3]

Career edit

At The Baltimore Banner, a Maryland news site launched in 2022, Cohn sets and executes strategy for the business and editorial groups. He served as president of The Economist from 2020 to 2024, overseeing global business performance.[4] He worked previously as president of The Atlantic and before that, editor of The Atlantic's digital properties.[5] He was also the executive editor of Wired and The Industry Standard, the White House correspondent for Newsweek, and the editor and publisher of Stanford Magazine.

At The Economist, Cohn is responsible for all aspects of the business in digital, print and audio, with a focus on consumer and corporate subscriptions and new commercial initiatives in education, podcasting and customer engagement. [6] [7][8][9] During his tenure, revenue has grown each year and total subscribers hit an all-time high.[10][11][8]

As president at The Atlantic, Cohn led the brand to record audiences, revenue, and profitability.[12] He was responsible for The Atlantic's print, digital, live events, and consulting platforms. He was named to the job in 2014 after five years as editor of Atlantic Digital, where he built and managed teams at TheAtlantic.com, The Wire, and CityLab, and grew the audience ten-fold.[3] He joined The Atlantic in January 2009.[13] In a memo announcing Cohn’s departure, Atlantic chairman David Bradley wrote of Cohn’s work on the digital build-out and business reset: ”Bob was the central animating figure in the two great revolutions in my time with the publication.”[14]

Cohn began his journalism career at Newsweek, where he worked in the Washington, D.C. bureau for 10 years. He covered the Supreme Court and the Justice Department for three years during the presidency of George H. W. Bush, and the Clinton White House from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, he moved to California to be editor and publisher of Stanford Magazine. He then worked two years as executive editor of The Industry Standard in San Francisco, before taking a job as executive editor at Wired magazine, where he worked from 2001 to 2008. At Wired, Cohn helped the magazine find a mainstream following and earn national recognition, including three National Magazine Awards for General Excellence during his tenure.

Awards edit

In 2018, Cohn was named Publishing Executive of the Year by Adweek.[15] He helped lead The Atlantic to National Magazine Awards for Magazine of the Year (2016) [16] and Best Website (2013).[17] The Atlantic was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday in 2016,[18] and to Advertising Age's Magazine A-List[19] in that same year. TheAtlantic.com was a finalist for a National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2010, 2011, and 2012. During his tenure at Wired, the magazine won three National Magazine Awards for General Excellence. At Stanford, his team won the Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education for best university publication in the country.[20] In 1992 he won, with his colleague David Kaplan, the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award for coverage of the Supreme Court nomination process.

In 2009, Cohn was named a Huffington Post Game Changer in Media,[21] along with Atlantic editor James Bennet. Washingtonian selected Cohn as one of its “Movers and Shakers Behind the Scenes,[22]" while "GQ" picked him as one of “50 Most Powerful People in Washington.[23]

In 2019, Cohn did a one-semester on-campus fellowship at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, where he created and taught a course on Media and Politics in a Time of Disruption and participated in the life of the Institute and the University.[24]

References edit

  1. ^ Bowie, Liz (December 19, 2023). "Veteran media executive Bob Cohn named CEO of The Baltimore Banner". The Baltimore Banner. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Economist Group names former Atlantic executive Bob Cohn as President, The Economist". The Economist Press Centre. Archived from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  3. ^ a b Boyd, E.B. (September 1, 2010). "SO WHAT DO YOU DO, BOB COHN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF ATLANTIC DIGITAL?". Mediabistro. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  4. ^ "Bob Cohn Named President of The Economist". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  5. ^ "The Atlantic Promotes Three Top Editors". Mediabistro.com. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  6. ^ "'Retention has been one of our best stories of the year': Bob Cohn on steering The Economist through crisis". Digiday. 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  7. ^ Southern, Lucinda (2021-05-27). "The Economist Is Selling Courses". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  8. ^ a b "The Economist Group's 2023 annual report" (PDF). The Economist Group. June 22, 2023.
  9. ^ Quah, Nicholas (2023-04-12). "Is The Economist Making the Best News Podcasts Right Now?". Vulture. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  10. ^ "The Economist Group 2021 annual report" (PDF). The Economist Group. June 2021.
  11. ^ "The Economist Group 2022 annual report" (PDF). The Economist Group. June 2022.
  12. ^ "The Atlantic Named Magazine of the Year". TheAtlantic.com. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  13. ^ "'Atlantic' Raids 'Wired' for New Web Czar". Portfolio.com. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  14. ^ "Memo: The Atlantic's President Bob Cohn to Leave in September". The Atlantic. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  15. ^ "Publishing Executive of the Year: Bob Cohn, president of the Atlantic".
  16. ^ "Magazine of the Year". TheAtlantic.com. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  17. ^ "National Magazine Awards 2013 Winners Announced". Magazine.org. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  18. ^ "The Atlantic Publisher of the Year". Digiday. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  19. ^ "Ad Age's 2015 Magazine A-List". adage.com. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 8 Feb 2016.
  20. ^ "Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year Award | CASE". www.case.org. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  21. ^ "HuffPost Game Changers: Who Is The Ultimate Game Changer In Media?". The Huffington Post. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  22. ^ "50 Top Journalists 2009". Washingtonian. June 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  23. ^ "The 50 Most Powerful People in D.C." GQ. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  24. ^ "Bob Cohn | The Institute of Politics at Harvard University". iop.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-21.

External links edit