The New York Times has hired Ross G. Douthat, a 29-year-old conservative writer and editor at The Atlantic, as an Op-Ed columnist, nearly two months after ending the year-long run of another conservative columnist, William Kristol, officials at the paper said Wednesday.
Asked when The Times last had such a young columnist, Andrew Rosenthal, the editorial page editor, said, "I don't think ever."
Mr. Douthat (pronounced DOW-thut) has written a popular blog for The Atlantic and articles in the magazine, as well as being a senior editor there, and he has had articles published in other publications. He is also the author of the books "Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class" (Hyperion, 2005) and, with Reihan Salam, "Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream" (Doubleday, 2008).
His writing steers away from partisanship - he frequently criticizes Republicans - or doctrine, showing a concern for income inequality that is usually the terrain of more liberal writers. On abortion, he said in an interview, "I'm sort of a squishy pro-lifer," interested in finding areas of compromise. He initially favored the war in Iraq, but later opposed it.
Mr. Douthat will begin writing columns online in mid-April, but his job will soon include columns in the paper and a blog, he and Mr. Rosenthal said.
As far as conservatives go, Douthat is far more David Brooks than Glenn Beck. Given how the Times's recent track record with conservative columnists has gone, they could have done much, much worse.
