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Old-School Atlantic Launches Online Pub

Atlantic magazine, known for its epic print essays, has launched a digital publication called The Current for folks with no time to digest 5,000-10,000 word pieces.

The 150-year-old Atlantic’s digital domain will feature 250-300 word items to appeal to the long-form impaired, according to Folio magazine.

Atlantic president Justin Smith says The Current will give its lead writers and bloggers a forum for “short essays or posts on a variety of topical subjects.” In January, the Atlantic made its once-paid content archives free to non-subscribers. Smith reported that the move led to a traffic increase of about 15 percent to 2.3 million monthly unique visitors.

The Current site was developed internally and Credit Suisse is sponsoring the site’s launch. “It’s not the Wild West of the blogosphere,” Smith says of the site’s appeal to advertisers. “They’re getting a very polished, highly-produced essay.”