The Atlantic and Plum Announce New Multiplatform Partnership To Celebrate Books and Ideas

For Immediate Release

Contact: Amy Thompson
202-266-7418
athompson@theatlantic.com

Contact: Graham Veysey
646-292-4233
gveysey@plumtv.com

Summer Book Series on Nantucket Launches New Partnership this July

NEW YORK, June 29, 2007 – The Atlantic, a magazine celebrating its 150th anniversary, and Plum, the media network of America’s most influential destination communities, today announced a multiplatform partnership that celebrates books, ideas, and the spirit of community. The first installment, called BOOKMARK 2007, will be launched on Nantucket July 14 and run through the end of August.

At the core of BOOKMARK 2007 is a recommended reading list, compiled by Atlantic editors. The 10 books on the inaugural list are a diverse selection from among the best in recent fiction and non-fiction, along with two classic works and a local Nantucket recommendation. Though the books on the list vary widely in tone, style, and subject matter, they are all, in various ways, conversation-generators. Many of the books, including the classics, have been reviewed in the pages of the Atlantic.

BOOKMARK 2007 also will feature an interactive web site that will include Atlantic book content, Plum video content and new author interviews. Plum television programming will cover featured summer events on Nantucket and present compilations of archival footage that celebrate books and ideas. BOOKMARK 2007’s content will be distributed through Plum’s network of eight television channels and made available on Plum OnDemand and internet platforms such as AOL Video, Joost, and TivoCast.

The additional events taking place on Nantucket will occur in August and include author lectures and an end-of-summer “micro-festival” where multiple sessions designed around themes covered in the books from the Atlantic’s recommended reading list will provide vibrant intellectual exchanges.

“We’re thrilled to be joining up with Plum, which shares our delight in great books and our goal of inspiring conversation around ideas that matter,” said Atlantic editor James Bennet.

“We are honored to be partnering with The Atlantic. They stand for all the values that we aspire to in our storytelling,” said Tom Scott, CEO and co-founder of Plum. “When we set out to celebrate people and place, and spirit and intellect in some of the most beautiful places in America, we could not have asked for a better partner.”

The inaugural BOOKMARK 2007 reading list is:

“Eat, Pray, Love,” by Elizabeth Gilbert "The Best and the Brightest,” by David Halberstam "God is Not Great,” by Christopher Hitchens “All Aunt Hagar’s Children,” by Edward P. Jones “Fellow Travelers,” by Thomas Mallon “On Chesil Beach,” by Ian McEwan “The Emperor’s Children,” by Claire Messud “Are We Rome?” by Cullen Murphy “Lolita,” by Vladimir Nabokov “Mayflower,” by Nathaniel Philbrick

The partnership’s collaborative web site – www.bookmark2007.com – will be active beginning July 14.

Since it was founded 150 years ago, The Atlantic has helped shape the national debate on the most critical and contentious issues of our times, from politics, business, and the economy, to technology, arts, and culture. The Atlantic's parent enterprise, Atlantic Media Company, is a Washington, D.C. based publishing company whose flagship properties include The Atlantic, National Journal, and Government Executive. With more than 1.5 million readers among the ranks of business, politics, government and academia, the publishing properties of Atlantic Media enjoy a prestigious reputation, acquired through 150 years of publishing top-quality American literature and journalism.

Plum is a new type of media company. Produced in, for and about some of America's most dynamic communities, Plum programming is honest, authentic and optimistic. It celebrates the natural beauty and character of its communities and spirit and intellect of the people who live and visit there. Plum currently operates television channels and websites in Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, the Hamptons, Vail, Aspen and Telluride. While the towns may be small, the reach and influence is not. Plum's markets are destinations of choice for over 14 million of the nation's most interesting and influential people each year. They are people who define the culture in the media, business, arts and politics. They are Plum's audience as well as its content. Increasingly, Plum is available to a broader audience beyond its communities through video on demand and the Internet at www.plumtv.com.