Politicker is a hub of political Web sites -- one for each state. Currently, 11 state Web sites are and all 50 should be up by the end of 2009. Jared
Kushner, the publisher of the site, told the New York Times:Each site will serve as an intensely local source for political articles, speculation and scandal. (Full article here).Politicker is directed towards political-junkies and its slogan is "Inside Politics for Political Insiders." It was created based on the New Jersey political Web site, PoliticsNJ.com, which has now become a part of Politicker as PolitickerNJ.
The most interesting part about Politicker is the opportunities it currently has and will continue to have for young journalist. These days, the sites managing editor, James Pindell, sends recent graduates out to a state capital with "little more than a laptop and a BlackBerry" and has them create the state site.
According to the Times article, once all 50 state sites are up, each site will have one or two reporters, an editor and several bloggers employed to keep it running.
In addition:
The editors — who will remain anonymous, and will include lawyers, lobbyists and former officeholders — are the “secret sauce.”Kushner told the Times that the sites themselves would not have any political affiliation, but then why will they have these connections? While I understand the necessity of having insiders working for the site in order to get inside information, it seems like a basic conflict of interest. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
In general I think it's a very smart idea to have this political hub. If it is successful, it will not only be an extremely useful tool for journalists but it will also be a great opportunity for journalists who want to write about politics.
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