Massimo Calabresi and Alex Altman Chosen to Lead TIME Washington Bureau

The following note was sent by TIME Editor Edward Felsenthal to staff Monday.

Team TIME:

In a summer that has seen 9 million people come to TIME in a single day for an eclipse and, in Firsts, some of the most ambitious enterprise we’ve ever done, we have also been continually reminded that our coverage of the nation’s capital is in so many ways the engine of our journalism.

And so I am delighted to announce some important new roles in our Washington Bureau:

Massimo Calabresi, one of the best-sourced and steadiest hands in our business, becomes TIME’s Washington Bureau Chief. Deputy Bureau Chief Alex Altman will take on the additional position of Nation Editor, coordinating all of our domestic affairs coverage. We are also recruiting two new senior reporters, one on politics and the other in an investigative role focused on national security.

The news that a Kremlin-linked company bought politically charged ads on Facebook—and calls for the company to testify in the House–came as a surprise to no one who has been following Massimo’s coverage. Indeed, one of the many reasons Massimo is so well suited for his new position is that he has spent his career preparing for what has in many ways become the most important political story of our time. His May story on Russia’s social-media influence campaign—paired with the unforgettable cover image of Moscow’s Red Square merging into the White House—was as clear a reminder of the enduring power of our brand as any we have seen.

Massimo began his career 26 years ago, arriving in Moscow three weeks before the coup that toppled Mikhail Gorbachev. He later covered post-Soviet Central Europe, and led our award-winning reporting on the wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. In Washington since 1999, his coverage has ranged from the Bush-Cheney relationship, the Supreme Court, the opioid crisis and the Iran nuclear deal.

Alex, having first come to TIME a decade ago as a reporting intern in the London bureau, has covered two presidential campaigns, Capitol Hill, and a wide range of national stories. Indeed, Alex has reported from more than 30 states for TIME, including a memorable and moving series of stories from the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Mo. His June cover story, The Swamp Hotel, laid out in elegant detail the potential conflicts of interest in President Trump’s continued ownership of a hotel that has become the new town square in Washington.

The promotions of Massimo and Alex will also allow Ben Goldberger to focus more fully on his role as Assistant Managing Editor, guiding some of our most ambitious stories and projects including Person of the Year.

Please join me in wishing Massimo and Alex the best in their new roles. And stay tuned for more news in the coming weeks on both promotions from within and new talent joining TIME.

Edward