The Atlantic has hired Vivian Salama as a staff writer, as part of a dramatic expansion of reporting at the intersection of national defense, technology, and global conflict. Vivian will join The Atlantic from The Wall Street Journal, and has covered U.S. foreign policy and national security for more than two decades. She will begin writing for The Atlantic in August.
The Atlantic—already known for its leading coverage of foreign policy and defense—has been scaling its newsroom to add more reporting in this space. Today the magazine launched a National Security section and newsletter. The Atlantic’s August issue is also devoted to the topic: The cover package, “Eighty Years on the Edge,” examines the past eight decades of life in the Atomic Age.
Below is the full announcement from editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and executive editor Adrienne LaFrance:
Dear everyone,
We’re happy to share the good news that Vivian Salama is joining The Atlantic as a staff writer. Vivian is a brilliant, energetic, and experienced reporter who has covered U.S. foreign policy and national security for more than two decades.
Vivian comes to us most recently from The Wall Street Journal, and she did stints at NBC and CNN before that. Her work is consistently defined by courage, originality, and exceptional versatility—with reporting that has taken her across America to cover presidential campaigns, into the Oval Office to question the commander in chief, and through passport checks in more than 85 countries.
Vivian has chronicled war from the front lines (including for this magazine), she ran the Baghdad bureau for the AP, and she traveled widely across the Middle East during the Arab Spring. Her doggedness has repeatedly resulted in groundshaking scoops, including President Trump’s awkward first call with Mexico’s president in 2017—in which he threatened to send U.S. troops after the “bad hombres.” In 2019, she was the first to reveal his interest in buying Greenland.
Vivian is a fluent speaker of Arabic and has taught classes on national security and journalism at George Washington and Georgetown. And—in all of her spare time—she earned a law degree from Georgetown herself. (She remains a member of the DC Bar.)
Please join us in welcoming her to The Atlantic.
Adrienne and Jeff
The Atlantic has announced a number of new hires this year, including managing editor Griff Witte; staff writers Isaac Stanley-Becker, Tyler Austin Harper, Quinta Jurecic, Nick Miroff, Toulouse Olorunnipa, Ashley Parker, Alexandra Petri, Missy Ryan, Michael Scherer, Jamie Thompson, Josh Tyrangiel, Caity Weaver, and Nancy Youssef; and senior editors Jenna Johnson and Dan Zak. Please reach out with any questions or requests.
Press Contact: Anna Bross and Paul Jackson, The Atlantic | [email protected]
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