The Daily Beast, owned by Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp., quietly promoted John Avlon to editor-in-chief of the website.
Tina Brown, the former top dog, bailed out of the leadership post late last year.
IAC seems to have forgotten to make the announcement about Avlon — possibly because it came over the holidays when it was putting out fires its then-top public relations executive, Justine Sacco, set when she made racist tweets while traveling to South Africa.
Sacco tweeted that she hoped she did not catch AIDS on her trip, before adding, “Just kidding. I’m white.”
She was quickly fired.
Avlon, who has been at the Daily Beast since its 2008 launch, had long been rumored for the EIC spot. But the promotion only came to light Thursday when he announced the appointment of Noah Shachtman to executive editor.
Shachtman comes from Foreign Policy, where he was executive editor, News.
“As a former professional bass player, campaign staffer and long-suffering Knicks fan, Noah understands both sides of the high-low, politics and pop-culture news mix that makes the Daily Beast a distinct destination and a growing success,” said Avlon, who simply signed the announcement on the appointment with his own new title.
As always, the Daily Beast is claiming traffic is soaring — up 35 percent in 2013 from 2012. It has been oozing red ink since its launch.
Meanwhile, Brown is not looking back. On Thursday in Chicago, she hosted her first Women in the World breakfast and got 200 paying attendees. Brown interviewed Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist.