'Hartford Courant' DC Chief Jumps To McClatchy

By: Joe Strupp For the second time in less than a week, a Washington, D.C., bureau chief has left his newspaper for another Capital bureau.

Several days after Newsday Bureau Chief Tim Phelps announced he was leaving for the Los Angeles Times, David Lightman of The Hartford Courant is planning to jump ship to McClatchy's heralded D.C. bureau.

In a memo first posted on the Poynter.org Romenesko site, McClatchy officials said Lightman has "done terrific work for the Courant since joining the newspaper in 1981, writing an authoritative and engaging blend of regional and national stories from Washington."

In the McClatchy bureau, Lightman replaces Ron Hutcheson, the former White House reporter and past president of the White House Correspondents Association, who left the company earlier this year for a public relations post.

The entire memo is posted below:

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Announcement from McClatchy Washington Bureau

We're delighted to announce that David Lightman, longtime Washington bureau chief for the Hartford Courant, will join McClatchy's national reporting staff. David has done terrific work for the Courant since joining the newspaper in 1981, writing an authoritative and engaging blend of regional and national stories from Washington. Previously, he worked for 10 years at the Baltimore Evening Sun, the last three as chief statehouse correspondent in Annapolis. For more than 20 years he has also taught journalism part time, at American University and the University of Maryland.

David will take on Ron Hutcheson's portfolio. He'll share White House duties with Bill Douglas, join our Campaign 2008 political team and write occasional analytical pieces. His enterprise work will focus on the government/politics world, but he'll also explore broader cultural themes taking hold in the country. David will make the move (two blocks-worth) later this month; he'll stop by probably tomorrow to say hi to old friends and new.

David, John and Bob