Politico
Politico, known originally as The Politico, is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the United States and internationally, with publications dedicated to politics in the U.S., European Union, United Kingdom, and Canada, among others. Primarily providing distributed news, analysis and opinion online, it also produces printed newspapers, radio, and podcasts. Its coverage focuses on topics such as the federal government, lobbying, and the media.
In 2021, Politico was reportedly acquired for over $1 billion by Axel Springer SE, a German news publisher and media company. Axel Springer SE's CEO Mathias Dopfner said that Politico employees would be required to adhere to the company's principles of support for Israel's right to exist, support for a United Europe and a free-market economy. In 2025, a group of Politico employees won a landmark case against the firm's use of AI tools.
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 Politicos 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 U.S. presidential election, and that "after Election Day, 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, Politicos 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 Politicos new editor, following the resignation of Richard Berke the previous month. VandeHei was named Politicos 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. She departed in 2023 after serving a year in the role.
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, and The Economist.
Stephen Brown, who was named editor-in-chief of Politico Europe in September 2019, died suddenly of a heart attack on March 18, 2021. Jamil Anderlini, previously Asia Editor of the Financial Times, was named Editor-in-Chief of Politico Europe in July 2021. In late 2024 it was announced that Anderlini would move into the role of Regional Director of Politico's European operation. Kate Day was appointed Senior Executive Editor of the European operation of Politico in late 2024.
Focus on investigations
Under Glasser and successor Carrie Budoff Brown, Politico expanded its focus on investigating Washington policymakers. A series of stories by Sherman and Palmer in 2015 "helped break open the scandal that forced the resignation of Representative Aaron Schock of Illinois in 2015", according to The New York Times. Reporter Marianne Levine in 2017 "helped bring down Trump's Labor Secretary pick," Andy Puzder, after breaking the story that Puzder's ex-wife had accused him of spousal abuse, according to the Poynter Institute. Puzder withdrew his nomination after the story.In September 2017, reporters Rachana Pradhan and Dan Diamond authored a "bombshell" investigation of how President Donald Trump's health secretary, Tom Price, was flying on charter jets paid for by taxpayers, according to the Washington Post. Price resigned after the stories. The "indispensable" stories published by Politico under Budoff Brown in 2017 helped it "get its groove back," according to the Washingtonians Andrew Beaujon. Politico reporter Alex Thompson in February 2022 broke the "bombshell report" of how Eric Lander, President Joe Biden's science adviser, had been "demeaning" colleagues in the office, according to Endpoints News. Lander resigned after the story.
Acquisition by Axel Springer
In October 2021, the large German publishing and media firm Axel Springer SE announced that it had completed the acquisition of Politico 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's Chief Executive Mathias Döpfner said that Politico staff would need to adhere to Axel Springer's principles, including support for a united Europe and Israel's right to exist, advocate the transatlantic alliance between the United States of America and Europe and a free-market economy, and that staff who disagree with the principles "should not work for Axel Springer, very clearly". Axel Springer said that they would not require Politico employees to sign documents in support of a transatlantic alliance or Israel, though this policy is enforced at German newspaper Bild, another Axel Springer subsidiary.In September 2022, Politico published an exposé critical of NGO leadership at the helm of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic response, written in cooperation with the German newspaper Die Welt, another Axel Springer property. In May 2025, Argentine entrepreneur and Axel Springer board member Martín Varsavsky resigned after accusing Politico of left-wing bias. Varsavsky cited Politico’s news coverage of Israel during the Gaza war.
Supreme Court leak
On May 2, 2022, Politico obtained and released a 98-page draft document indicating that the Supreme Court was poised to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, as well as Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Chief Justice John Roberts directed the Marshal of the Court to conduct an investigation into the source of the leak. The story became the most-trafficked in the publisher's history, with 11 million views by May 6. Politicos first tweet on the report gained more than triple the impressions it normally saw in an entire month on Twitter.Loss of workstation at the Pentagon
On January 31, 2025, a Defense Department memo announced that Politico must move out of its longtime workspace on the Correspondents' Corridor in the Pentagon, a move under a new Annual Media Rotation Program for the Pentagon Press Corps.Use of artificial intelligence
In 2024, Politico published AI-generated news summaries of major U.S. political events such as the Democratic National Convention and the presidential debates. Wired reported that Politico AI tool had fabricated quotes, misspelled names and used language that violated Politico editorial standards, including the use of terms such as "criminal migrants". The errors were later taken down without a correction from an editor.In September 2024, Politico announced a partnership with Y Combinator-backed startup Capital AI to produce an AI tool to summarize its journalism for Politico Pro subscribers. In March 2025, Politico unveiled Policy Intelligence Assistant, a suite of AI tools for use by paying subscribers. Executive Rachel Loeffler described the initiative as "seamlessly integrating generative AI with our unmatched policy expertise." The tools were criticized by a union representing journalists at Politico and E&E News for violating the terms of their contract, which states that Politico management must give its journalists 60 days' notice prior to rolling out AI products which "materially and substantively" affect their duties. In July 2025, the union took Politico leadership to arbitration.