Arts & Letters Daily rescued by US publisher

The award-winning website Arts & Letters Daily is expected to resume publication in a few days, following its purchase today by an American newspaper, the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The New Zealand-based site gained an international following for its pithy summaries of, and links to, much of the web's best writing on ideas, the arts, criticism, and a wide variety of other topics. It suspended publication earlier this month following the bankruptcy of its parent company.

Arts & Letters Daily will resume publishing under the editorship of Denis Dutton, a professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury, who founded the site in 1998.

Nearly three years ago Professor Dutton sold the site to American magazine Lingua Franca. Reports at the time said the sale price was more than $1 million, although Professor Dutton said that figure was an exaggeration.

Professor Dutton and Tran Huu Dung continued to edit the site after its new owner's parent company, University Business, filed for bankruptcy this year.

Professor Dutton said today's sale was the best-possible outcome for the readers of Arts & Letters Daily.

"The Chronicle of Higher Education is the premier source for news and information for universities worldwide. Both technically and editorially, it offers immense resources. A bright future for Arts & Letters Daily is now assured."

The Chronicle acquired Arts & Letters Daily along with the assets of its parent company, which published the magazine Lingua Franca. The sale is expected to close in the next few days.

The Chronicle is a US weekly newspaper covering higher education and intellectual life. It has a paid circulation of 90,000 and a readership estimated at 500,000.

Corbin Gwaltney, the Chronicle's chairman, said he was delighted to be able to bring the website back online.

"The Chronicle has always been committed to the journalism of ideas, and we see Arts & Letters Daily as a perfect extension of what we do."

In 1999, Britain's Observer newspaper named the A&L Daily site the "Best Website in the World".

This year it won the people's voice award for best news site at the Webby Awards.

Arts and Letters Daily