Politico

Politico, known originally as The Politico, is a political journalism company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and internationally. It distributes content primarily through its website but also printed newspapers, radio, and podcasts. Its coverage in Washington, D.C. includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, the media, and the presidency.
History.
Origins, style, and growth.
"Politico" was founded in 2007 to focus on politics with fast-paced Internet reporting in granular detail, comparable to the sports analysis of SportsCenter or ESPN. John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei left "The Washington Post" to become "Politico"s editor-in-chief and executive editor, respectively. With the financial backing of Robert L. Allbritton, the pair launched the website on January 23, 2007. Their first hire was Mike Allen, a writer for "Time", and Frederick J. Ryan Jr. served as its first president and chief executive officer. Martin Tolchin was another member of the editorial founding team.
From the beginning, journalists covering political campaigns for "Politico" carried a video camera to each assignment, and they were encouraged to promote their work elsewhere. By 2008, "Politico" received more than three million unique visits per month.
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." Between the 2008 and 2012 elections, "Politico"s staff more than tripled in size. Notable additions included two political commentators, Michael Kinsley and Joe Scarborough, as opinion writers.
In 2009, the web pages shortened their name from "The Politico" to more simply "Politico".
In 2011, "Politico" began to focus more on long-form journalism and news analysis. This shift in coverage received further support in June 2013 with the hiring of Susan Glasser to oversee "opinion from prominent outside voices" and "long-form storytelling". In September 2014, Glasser was tapped to serve as "Politico"s new editor, following the resignation of Richard Berke the previous month.
VandeHei was named "Politico"s new CEO in October 2013. Under his leadership, "Politico" continued to grow: in 2014 alone, it expanded revenues by 25%. By 2016, "Politico" had nearly 500 employees worldwide.
Amidst reports of tensions, VandeHei and Allen announced that they would leave "Politico" after the 2016 presidential election. Allbritton was named as CEO in Vandehei's stead. In April 2017, "Politico" announced that investment banker Patrick Steel would succeed Allbritton as CEO, effective May 8. On February 2, 2021, it was announced that Patrick Steel would step down in the summer of 2021. A new CEO has not been named. 
Politico Playbook.
On June 25, 2007, Mike Allen launched Playbook, a daily early-morning email newsletter. Within a few years, the newsletter had attained a large readership amongst members of the D.C. community. By 2016, over 100,000 people—including "insiders, outsiders, lobbyists and journalists, governors, senators, presidents and would-be presidents"—read Playbook daily. Multiple commentators credit Allen and Playbook with strongly influencing the substance and tone of the rest of the national political news cycle.
Daniel Lippman joined "Politico" in June 2014, in large part to assist Allen with Playbook. Upon Allen's departure in July 2016, Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman joined Lippman to assume Playbook-writing duties. In March 2017, "Politico" announced the creation of a second, mid-day edition of Playbook—entitled "Playbook Power Briefing"—written by the same people who authored the morning edition.
In 2017, a weekly sponsorship of Playbook cost between $50,000 and $60,000.
Politico Pro.
Politico Pro launched in 2010. With roughly 100 reporters at its disposal, Politico Pro provides in-depth coverage of over a dozen major topic areas. The service charges its readers by topic area, with the costs running well over $1,000 per topic per year. Despite the paywall in place, Politico Pro has a 93% subscription renewal rate, and it provides one fourth of "Politico"s overall revenue. Access to the main site and the Playbook remained free of charge.
"Politico Magazine".
In November 2013, "Politico" launched "Politico Magazine" (), which is published online and bimonthly in print. In contrast to "Politico"s focus on "politics and policy scoops" and breaking news, "Politico Magazine" focuses on "high-impact, magazine-style reporting", such as long-form journalism. The first editor of "Politico Magazine" was Susan Glasser, who came to the publication from "Foreign Policy" magazine.
After Glasser was promoted to become "Politico"s editor, Garrett Graff was named as editor, followed by Stephen Heuser. In December 2016, Blake Hounshell was named the new editor-in-chief of the magazine.
Along with a targeted free audience of roughly 30,000 readers, "Politico Magazine" is available via subscription for $200 per year. Content from "Politico Magazine" is also accessible online.
State editions.
In September 2013, "Politico" acquired the online news site "Capital New York", which also operated separate departments covering Florida and New Jersey. In April 2015, "Politico" announced its intention to rebrand the state feeds with the "Politico" name ("Politico Florida", "Politico New Jersey", and "Politico New York") to expand its coverage of state politics. In September 2018, "Politico" announced it would launch "Politico California Pro".
Global expansion.
In September 2014, "Politico" formed a joint venture with German publisher Axel Springer SE 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", a European political newspaper, to be re-launched under the "Politico" brand. Stephen Brown was named editor-in-chief in September 2019. "Politico Europe" debuted in print on April 23, 2015.
Website redesign.
On March 27, 2018, "Politico" revealed that it had redesigned its website for the first time since 2014. Changes included a redesigned and more mobile-friendly home page, a different typeface (with DIN replacing Proxima Nova), and a new "Quick Pops" feed of breaking news stories.
Expansion.
Politico acquired E&E News in December 2020 to expand its coverage of the energy and environmental sectors. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Controversies.
"Politico" editor Michael Hirsh resigned in November 2016 after publishing the home address of white supremacist Richard B. Spencer on Facebook.
"Politico Magazine" published an article in April 2017 purporting to show long-term links among U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Jewish outreach organization Chabad-Lubavitch. The article was widely condemned, with the head of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, saying that it "evokes age-old myths about Jews".
Cambridge Analytica micro-targeted pro-Trump voters and anti-Clinton voters with native advertising and sponsored or branded content on "Politico".
In March 2019 Politico was accused again of anti-semitism when an article depicting imagery of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders next to money trees was published. Sanders, one of two Jewish candidates for the 2020 US presidential election, was targeted for the amount of wealth he accumulated over his lifetime. Politico staff writer Michael Kruse wrote the article detailing the senator's wealth, writing that Sanders "might still be cheap", according to one of the senator's friends, "but he's sure not poor", which was criticised as combining two anti-Semitic tropes (Jews are cheap; Jews are rich). Politico's official Twitter account used the quote to share the story; the tweet was later deleted.On January 14, 2021, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro was featured as a guest writer for "Politico"'s Playbook newsletter, where he defended House Republicans who opposed the second impeachment of Donald Trump. The newsletter drew immense backlash from many "Politico" staffers, some of whom argued that Shapiro should not have been allowed to write the article. Matthew Kaminski, editor in chief of "Politico", refused to apologize and defended the decision to allow Shapiro to write the article, stating that, "We're not going to back away from having published something because some people think it was a mistake to do so." According to the "Daily Beast", more than 100 "Politico" staffers signed onto a letter to publisher Robert Allbritton criticizing both "Politico's" decision to feature Shapiro's article and the response from Kaminski.
Distribution and content.
As of 2017, "Politico" claimed to average 26 million unique visitors a month to its American website, and more than 1.5 million unique visitors to its European site. According to a 2020 Knight Foundation study, "Politico" is generally read by a moderate audience, leaning slightly toward the left.
The print newspaper has a circulation of approximately 32,000 in 2009, 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, ABC affiliate WJLA and cable channel NewsChannel 8 (WJLA and NewsChannel 8 were owned by Allbritton Communications prior to the sale of the broadcast unit to Sinclair Broadcast Group), radio station WTOP-FM, and Yahoo! News election coverage.
Ideology and influence.
In a 2007 opinion piece, progressive watchdog group Media Matters for America accused "Politico" of having a "Republican tilt". A 2012 study found that the percentage of "Politico" readers who identify as Democrats—29%—is equal to the percentage who identify as Republicans.
Multiple commentators have credited "Politico"s original organizational philosophy—namely, prioritizing scoops and publishing large numbers of stories—with forcing other, more-established publications to make a number of changes, such as increasing their pace of production and changing their tone.