Capital New York

''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and internationally. It primarily distributes content online but also with printed newspapers, radio, and podcasts. Its coverage in Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, the media, and the presidency.

Axel Springer SE, a German publisher, announced in August 2021 that it had agreed to buy Politico from founder Robert Allbritton for over $1 billion. The closing took place in late October 2021. The new owners said they would add staff, and at some point, put the publication's news content behind a paywall. Axel Springer is Europe's largest newspaper publisher and had previously acquired ''Insider''.

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: " ter 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, but left far sooner. Allbritton, then Executive Chairman and owner, was named acting CEO in Vandehei's stead. Several months after their departure, Washingtonian Magazine reported that the relationship ultimately deteriorated during a series of events including VandeHei pushing Allbritton to sell the company, and Allbritton losing faith in VandeHei's abilities as a CEO.

Investment banker Patrick Steel served as CEO between 2017 and 2021. He departed the company in early 2021 after four years.

Goli Sheikholeslami, who had been the CEO of WNYC public radio, was announced as CEO by new owner Axel Springer in January 2022 and tasked with leading operations of both Politico and Politico Europe.

Dafna Linzer, who had been at MSNBC and NBC News, was named as the new executive editor in March 2022.

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 to start Axios, 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. After Palmer and Sherman left to found Punchbowl News, ''Politico'' announced a new team of Playbook authors in 2021, including Rachael Bade, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri and Eugene Daniels. Mike Debonis, previously of the Washington Post, was hired as editor of Politico Playbook in 2022.

Politico Pro

Politico Pro, a B2B subscription service, launched in 2010. With roughly 300 reporters at its disposal, Politico Pro provides in-depth coverage of over a dozen major topic areas. The service charges subscribing businesses by licenses and topic area (verticals), with the costs in the high four figures to high six figures depending on the scope of the subscription. Despite the paywall in place, Politico Pro has a 93% subscription renewal rate, and it provides nearly half of ''Politico''s overall revenue. Access to the Politico.com, Politico Playbook, and its other newsletters remained free of charge.

''Politico Magazine''

In November 2013, ''Politico'' launched ''Politico Magazine'' (), which is published online and bimonthly in print.Kristen Hare
Politico magazine launches online
, Poynter Institute (November 14, 2013). 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 editor of the magazine. He was followed by Blake Hounshell (2016–18), and Stephen Heuser (2019-2022). In September, 2022, Elizabeth Ralph was named editor of POLITICO Magazine, now solely a digital publication.

''Protocol''

In February 2020, Robert Allbritton, the then owner of ''Politico,'' launched ''Protocol'', an online tech news site focused on the "people, power and politics of tech." The site's focuses on arm how to "arm decision-makers in tech, business and public policy" with important global technology news. It operates as a separate company and with separate business and editorial management than Politico.

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. ''Politico Europe'' debuted in print on April 23, 2015.

Politico.eu, the publication's Brussels-based European operation, was formally launched in 2015. In early 2016, it had about 50 editorial employees and two dozen business employees. A third-party survey published at the time ranked Politico.eu as most widely read news organization among 249 Brussels "influencers" surveyed, although the same panel found it less influential than ''The Financial Times'', BBC
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