Politico White House Reporter Taking Over as Editor in Chief of the Washington Free Beacon

Washington Free Beacon will undergo a change of management in the coming days since the conservative website will soon be headed by White House reporter Eliana Johnson.

“Looking forward to my new gig,” Johnson wrote on Twitter, confirming Buzzfeed’s report on the matter.

Looking forward to my new gig, very grateful for my three years at ⁦@politico. https://t.co/HCJJQfn60U

— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) September 4, 2019

Beyond her coverage on the Trump administration for Politico, Johnson has made an impact in the media through her work as a CNN political analyst, a reporter for National Review, and as a producer for Fox News. Johnson was asked about her new gig by Buzzfeed, so she sent them an email explaining that “I want to build on the excellent work the Beacon has done and continue to train serious reporters who have a conservative outlook and an irreverent sensibility.

“The focus has been and will continue to be on scoops and original reporting,” she continued.

Matthew Continetti, the outgoing founding editor of the Beacon, also commented by speaking about how conservative outlets are still trying to establish their particular niches in the world of Trump conservatism. He explained that the Beacon’s role is to help conservative journalism grow and provide more original reporting instead of reactionary criticisms of other outlets.

“It’s never reached a critical mass,” said Continetti. “The conservatives who come through this farm system of news production that we’ve created are almost inevitably swept up in the larger media — the ones who are best at reporting or editing and whose primary goal isn’t ideological — they are taken up and in many ways we celebrate them as success stories.”

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