Politico is a political journalism organization based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers the issues, ideas and personalities behind politics and policy in the United States and in the global arena. Its content is distributed via television, the Internet, newspaper and radio. Its coverage in Washington, D.C. includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency. It was a sponsor of the 2008 Republican Presidential candidates debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on May 3, 2007, the 2008 Democratic Presidential candidates debate at the Kodak Theater on January 31, 2008, and the 2012 Republican Presidential candidates debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on September 7, 2011.
John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei left The Washington Post to become Politico's editor-in-chief and executive editor, respectively, launching the newspaper on January 23, 2007. Frederick J. Ryan Jr. was its first president and chief executive officer. Robert L. Allbritton is Founder and Publisher. In October, 2013, Jim VandeHei, longtime editor at Politico, took over as CEO and president.
Ownership, distribution and content
The newspaper has a circulation of approximately 40,000, distributed for free in Washington, D.C., and Manhattan. The newspaper prints up to five issues a week while Congress is in session and sometimes publishes one issue a week when Congress is in recess. It carries advertising, including full-page ads from trade associations and a large help-wanted section listing Washington political jobs.
Politico is a partner with several news outlets that co-report and distribute its video, print and audio content. Partners include CBS News, Allbritton Communications's ABC station WJLA and cable channel NewsChannel 8, radio station WTOP-FM, and Yahoo! News election coverage.
Journalists covering political campaigns for Politico carry a video camera to each assignment, and journalists are encouraged to promote their work elsewhere. Though Politico seeks to break the traditional journalism mold, it expects to make much of its money initially from Washington, D.C.â€"focused newspaper advertising. Among the reporters who work for Politico are Mike Allen, Jake Sherman, Josh Gerstein, Glenn Thrush, Lois Romano, John Bresnahan, Darren Goode, Carrie Budoff Brown, Manu Raju, Maggie Haberman, Dylan Byers, Kenneth Vogel, Anna Palmer, Alex Burns, Darren Samuelsohn, Ben White and James Hohmann. Roger Simon became Politico's Chief Political Columnist in December, 2006. In 2010, Politico added two "opinion" columnists, Michael Kinsley and Joe Scarborough.
In a 2007 opinion piece, progressive watchdog group Media Matters for America accused Politico of having a "Republican tilt". In a letter to Executive Editor Jim VandeHei, Senior Political Writer Ben Smith and Chief Political Correspondent Mike Allen, Editor in Chief John F. Harris reminded his colleagues that they had left the more "traditional news organizations" where they had worked previously, starting Politico with the intent to be more transparent. To that end, he asked his colleagues for an honest assessment of the claims set forth in the letter from Media Matters. Ben Smith answered: "Media Matters has a point: ...that Bush's public endorsement made us seem too close to the White House. That was clearly a favor from the president to us (albeit a small one), and felt to me like one of those clubby Beltway moments that make the insiders feel important and the outsiders feel (accurately) like outsiders." The other primary editors disagreed with the general accusation for a variety of reasons and some pointed to accusations of a liberal bias from the other side of the political spectrum. In 2011 and 2012, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, and Breitbart.com, each published stories saying that Politico.com has a liberal bias.
In September 2008, The New York Times reported that Politico would expand its operations following the 2008 presidential election: "[A]fter Election Day, [Politico] will add reporters, editors, Web engineers and other employees; expand circulation of its newspaper edition in Washington; and print more often."
A 2009 profile of the organization in Vanity Fair said Politico had an editorial staff of 75 and a total staff of 100. Its newspaper circulation is around 32,000, and as of summer 2009 its web traffic was around 6.7Â million unique visitors per month. This is fewer than the 11Â million it had during the high point of the campaign, but most political news outlets have lower traffic outside election years. As of July 2009, it was expected to have annual revenue of around $15Â million, primarily from the printed product, enough for the publication to remain financially solvent.
Capital New York
In September 2013, Politico acquired online news site Capital New York. The magazine launched its online version in November 2013.
Global Expansion
In September 2014, Politico formed a joint venture with German publisher Axel Springer to launch its European edition, based in Brussels. In December 2014, the joint venture announced its acquisition of Development Institute International, a leading French events content provider, and European Voice, the European political newspaper, to be re-launched under the Politico brand. Former Wall Street Journal editorial board editor Matthew Kaminski is the executive editor of its European edition. Politico Europe debuted in print on April 23, 2015.
References
Further reading
- Jaffe, Harry (August 1, 2009). "The Son Also Rises". Washingtonian.
External links
- Politico.com - Official website
- Capitalnewyork.com - Official website of Capital