UPDATE: 'Wash Post' Loses Harris and VandeHei -- To Allbritton

By: E&P Staff Just days after Executive Editor Leonard Downie, Jr.'s surprising memo outlined major shifts ahead for The Washington Post, the first unexpected changes have come -- though probably not related to his announcement.

National political editor John Harris (co-author of a recent book with ABC's Mark Halperin) and top reporter Jim VandeHei are both leaving the paper to join a new multimedia political offering from Allbritton Communications, which is about to launch The Capitol Leader newspaper.

"Several additional nationally-recognized journalists will be joining the venture, creating an unmatched, web-based, one-stop-shop for political news coverage," an Allbritton release states today. "They will challenge the traditional media for dominance in covering national politics and Congress."

Harris said in a statement, "The country is on the brink of what promises to be one of the most intense and consequential presidential campaigns in decades. Allbritton Communications has made a commitment to telling the story of this campaign and its personalities as comprehensively as any news organization in America.

Added VandeHei: "We will put together the best political reporting team in country today and deliver the news the way people want it: fast, fair and first."

The statement continued: "The new venture will combine Allbritton?s new Capitol Hill newspaper, The Capitol Leader, which Harris and VandeHei will lead and the Washington media resources of Allbritton?s ABC affiliate, WJLA-TV, and its 24-hour cable news service, NewsChannel 8, along with national exposure on the CBS Television Network. This unique partnership will include carriage of stories, interviews and regular features on Face the Nation and CBS This Morning as well as CBS Radio. Tying these traditional media together, the new platform will be anchored on the web, pushing the next generation of political journalism: more conversational, more interactive and more transparent in taking the audience behind the scenes of how news happens and how it gets reported."

Robert Allbritton, chairman of Allbritton Communications, said in a statement, ?This is the future of political journalism. Our ambitious goal is to cover this complex topic more thoroughly than has ever been done in history ? and to provide that coverage in whatever form and whenever consumers want it. We are assembling the ultimate in a political and news consumer?s dream team. Our alliance with CBS and others we will form with national media will be integrated with our extensive Washington media resources. We will be able to provide unprecedented access to political information and analysis readily available from your TV sets, newspapers, magazines, computers and multiple hand held devices.?

Sean McManus, President CBS News, added in the statement, ?We at CBS News are excited to be part of this new approach, which we?re confident will add enormous insight and depth to our coverage of the new Congress, the primaries, and the 2008 elections. Our network television exclusive arrangement with these talented political reporters will help make CBS News the best source on television, radio, and the web for smart political reporting.?

Martin Tolchin, Sr., publisher and editor of The Capitol Leader, noted that, ?This incredible political horsepower will add immensely to our efforts to create the premier Capitol Hill newspaper.?

Earlier, in a memo to staffers, Downie wrote that he'd hoped that the two men would have helped lead the Post's own assault on the Web, but now they will be gone. Starting next week, AME/Enterprise Bill Hamilton will be the acting national politics editor.

The memo, first posted at the Romenesko site at www.poynter.org, reads as follows.

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As Len wrote in his memo last week, change in the newsroom will focus attention and investment on our highest priority journalism. Reporting on national politics is one of these areas. We are planning to expand our coverage of national politics in the newspaper and online to deepen its breadth and boldness, its mix of insight and detail, its credibility at Internet speed.

We had hoped that John Harris and Jim VandeHei would help lead this effort on the web, but John and Jim have decided to join a new politics website. We will feel their departure keenly. John and Jim have been valued colleagues and friends to many of us. We're grateful for the fine journalism they've contributed to The Post.

Starting next week, AME/Enterprise Bill Hamilton will be the acting national politics editor. Bill will work with us and the next AME/National to reconfigure the role of the politics editor, giving it greater range over coverage of Washington politics and the presidential campaigns. We will also post soon for new politics reporting jobs on the national staff that will increase the expertise of our file in the newspaper and online.

Once we select the next AME/National, Liz Spayd will move into her new role as Editor of washingtonpost.com to help Jim Brady and his team launch a new online politics initiative. This venture will unite the resources of The Post newsroom and washingtonpost.com in original and innovative ways, some modelled on the pioneering work of Chris Cillizza and The Fix. As Caroline Little and Jim outline in a separate message today, the web site will be adding positions for reporting on politics.

We're proud of the trust, record of scoops, reputation for analysis and the huge audience earned by Washington Post political journalism. We believe that by adding new ideas and new resources we can also increase the number of readers for whom The Post is the essential guide to American politics.