More Information About The Politico

The Politico

The February 15, 2007 front page of The Politico
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	newspaper
Owner	Allbritton Communications
Editor-in-chief	John F. Harris
Managing editors	Bill Nichols
Founded	January 23, 2007
Headquarters	1100 Wilson Boulevard 6th Floor Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Circulation	32,917 (Jun 09)
Official website	politico.com

The Politico is a political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage includes Congress, Washington, D.C. lobbying, and the Presidency. It extensively reported on the 2008 presidential election, and covered other local races.^[1] It was a sponsor of the 2008 Republican Presidential candidates debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on May 3, 2007, and the 2008 Democratic Presidential candidates debate at the Kodak Theater on January 31, 2008.

John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei left The Washington Post to become Politico's editor-in-chief and executive editor, respectively. Politico is financed by Robert Allbritton, chairman and chief executive of Allbritton Communications, which owns television stations in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, all affiliated with the Disney-owned ABC network. Frederick J. Ryan Jr., former Assistant to President Ronald Reagan,^[2] and currently chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, is president and CEO of Politico.^[3]

On September 23, 2008, The New York Times reported that Politico would expand its operations following the presidential election: "after Election Day, [Politico] will add reporters, editors, Web engineers and other employees; expand circulation of its newspaper edition in Washington; and print more often."^[4]

Distribution and content

The newspaper has a circulation of approximately 32,000,^[5] distributed for free on Capitol Hill and elsewhere in Washington, D.C.^[1] 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.^[6] 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,^[7] Allbritton Communications's ABC station WJLA and cable channel News Channel 8,^[8] radio station WTOP-FM^[9], and Yahoo! News election coverage.

Politico journalists covering political campaigns carry a video camera with them to each assignment,^[8] and journalists are encouraged to promote their work elsewhere.^[9] Though Politico seeks to break the traditional journalism mold, it expects to initially make much of its money from Washington D.C.–focused newspaper advertising.^[10]

A 2009 profile of the organization in Vanity Fair said Politico had an editorial staff of 75 and a total staff of 100. Its circulation is around 32,000 and as of summer 2009 its web traffic was around 6.7 million unique visitors per month. This is less than the 11 million it had during the high point of the campaign, but most political news outlets have lower traffic outside election years. As of July it was expected to have annual revenue of around $15 million, primarily from the printed product, enough for the publication not to lose money.^[5]

References

Further reading

• Jaffe, Harry. "The Son Also Rises", Washingtonian, August 1, 2009.

External links

• Politico.com