The Associated Press
Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999; 1:49 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON –– New Republic editor Charles Lane has resigned after running the magazine for two years. He will be replaced by Peter Beinart, a senior editor at the publication.

Neither Lane nor New Republic owner and editor-in-chief Martin Peretz accepted calls Wednesday seeking comment. No further information on the management change, including when it becomes effective, was released by the publication.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Lane quit after learning about Peretz's plan to replace him with Beinart, a 28-year-old Yale graduate close to Peretz. Lane apparently had been seeking another job while Peretz was planning to install Beinart, but neither knew of the other's intention, the paper said.

Lane told the Post he will become an editor-at-large at the Washington-based magazine.

"I think I've accomplished what I can accomplish," he said. "I'm going to enjoy writing. I really do need to stop inflicting the late hours and anxious weekends on my wife and kid."

Peretz declined to comment to the Post.

Lane, a former Newsweek reporter, became known last year for firing associate editor Stephen Glass after he admitted making up an article about a teen-age computer hacker. Lane apologized to readers after he found fabrications in two-thirds of the 41 articles Glass wrote.