Politico Owner To Start Local D.C. News Site; Hiring 50 Journalists
Politico’s Robert Allbritton is planning a Washington, D.C. local news website, according to a report today from The New Republic. Touted as a direct competitor for the Washington Post — whose political coverage was already slighted by the Politico’s rise to prominence — the new project will function as an online metro mix of aggregation and original reporting, helmed by former Washingtonpost.com editor Jim Brady.
The New York Times‘ Media Decoder blog is reporting that the newsroom will initially employee about 50 people, expanding the Allbritton Communications family, “which also owns Politico and two Washington-area television channels — a broadcast channel and a 24-hour cable news channel.” The Times also adds: “But so far, the project does not have a name, a Web address or a staff beyond Mr. Brady. The creators hope to begin operating in the spring.”
Meanwhile, The Huffington Post got its hands on the announcement memo:
October 28, 2009
Dear colleagues,
I’m thrilled to give you an update on some important news about our ACC family. The migration of news consumers from print and broadcast to the Web is accelerating, and we are determined to thrive in this new world. So we are planning to launch a local-news website that will harness the power of the Web, social media and new technology to connect Washingtonians with each other and with the information that matters most in their family, civic and work lives.
To run this new venture, we have recruited Jim Brady, an outstanding journalist and the former editor of WashingtonPost.com. Jim is an important pioneer in new media, and he shares our fascination with the exciting possibilities that exist for marrying the power of technology to a deep commitment to local news.
This new project will include a merger of the current WJLA.com and News8.net websites into a site whose aim is to set a new standard for media coverage of local news, with a staff of more than 50 people.
Check out the rest of the announcement here.
