In October, I wrote about how the parent company of Politico.com, Allbritton Communications Co., is starting a local news site for the Washington D.C. area.
Just as Politico has ebbed away at The Washington Post‘s dominance as the place to turn to for political news, it seems Politico is also going to attack the Post’s local news coverage.
Robert Allbritton, the man behind Politico and Allbritton Communications, is making a gutsy move, especially since he is going to launch the site with former-Post Web site Executive Editor Jim Brady running the show.
I think this is a very interesting venture, and it is something I think will work.
It is truly showing how new forms of distribution can challenge traditional media outlets.
A Web site is more nimble and can publish 24 hours per day, seven days a week and 365 days in year.
A newspaper can basically publish only once per day, excluding the online efforts most publications perform.
Of course, this new venture doesn’t have a name yet and isn’t slated to launched until maybe this spring, but since this site is going to have up to 50 staffers, it still seems promising.
And the prospects are looking better every day. First Jim Brady signed on, and now Steve Buttry is joining the team as Director of Community Engagement, according to a post on his blog.
Buttry starts in February. Until then, though, he will continue to be C3 Innovation Coach at Gazette Communications in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Buttry is a online news guru who works tirelessly to develop innovative ways to keep journalism viable in the digital age while ensuring news doesn’t lose touch with the communities it should be serving.
I don’t claim to know him well, but I respect what he does and what he has said in his writings and speeches.
I wish him and the entire venture luck, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
