After 15 years at @atlantamagazine, I was laid off yesterday. So were 5 other staffers. For-profit journalism is in no condition to withstand a pandemic. But if losing a job is as close as this virus gets to my family, when it is devastating so many, I will be fortunate.(1/5)

And while I’m sad to leave my colleagues so unceremoniously, mostly I feel blessed. For 8 years I was editor-in-chief, and sought to reflect in our pages the vast, ever-changing complexities of Atlanta, in all its contradictions and brilliance, its raucousness and promise.(2/5)

I am grateful to those who took the time to read us, who subscribed to us, and especially to all of you who opened up your homes and your hearts to me when I asked if I could write about you. What a profound and humbling trust that is.(3/5)

My final piece for the magazine—a team effort, as the best stories invariably are—came out 3 days ago. It's powerful not for being our words, but for being yours. 17 Atlantans talked to us about what Covid has done, and what it still can do.(4/5)

On its best days, journalism reminds us of our shared humanity, that we rise or fall together. We need that now more than ever. A democracy is only as strong as its fourth estate. Thanks for reading. Here's to turning the page. (5/5) https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/21st-century-plague/