The Hill (newspaper)

Coordinates: 38°54′11″N 77°02′15″W / 38.903161°N 77.037443°W / 38.903161; -77.037443 (The Hill newspaper)
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The Hill
TypeDaily newspaper (when Congress is in session)
FormatCompact
Owner(s)Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications Inc
Founder(s)Jerry Finkelstein and Martin Tolchin
PublisherPeter Greenberger
EditorBob Cusack[1]
Managing editorIan Swanson[1]
Photo editorGreg Nash
FoundedSeptember 1, 1994; 29 years ago (1994-09-01)
LanguageAmerican English
Headquarters1625 K St., NW, Suite 900, Washington, D.C., 20006 U.S.
CityWashington, D.C.
CountryUnited States
Circulation24,000 print (as of December 2012)[2][3]
ISSN1521-1568
OCLC number31153202
Websitethehill.com

The Hill is an American digital media company, based in Washington, D.C. which began as a newspaper publisher in 1994.[2][4]

Focusing on politics, policy, business and international relations, The Hill coverage includes the U.S. Congress, the presidency and executive branch, and election campaigns.[5] On its website, The Hill describes its output as "nonpartisan reporting on the inner workings of Congress and the nexus of politics and business".[6]

The company’s primary outlet is TheHill.com. As of 2020, it is the largest independent political news site in the United States, is second in online political news readership behind CNN,[7] and is the third most-Tweeted U.S. news source.[8]

The Hill is additionally distributed in print for free around Washington D.C. and distributed to all congressional offices. It is owned by Capitol Hill Publishing, which is owned by News Communications, Inc. It is currently owned and managed by James "Jimmy" A. Finkelstein.

History

Founding and early years

Vending box for The Hill on K Street.

The paper was founded in 1994 by Democratic power broker and New York businessman Jerry Finkelstein, and Martin Tolchin, a former correspondent for The New York Times.[9] New York Representative Gary L. Ackerman was also a major shareholder.[9] The name of the publication alludes to “Capitol Hill” as a metonym for the United States Congress and government generally.[10][9]

In 2012, James "Jimmy" A. Finkelstein assumed control of the organization.[2][1]

Digital distribution and print circulation

In 2019, The Hill was ranked second among all US news sites for political readership, second to CNN, and ahead of Capitol Hill competitors such as Politico.[11]

As of 2020, the newspaper claims to have more than 22,000 print readers.[2] The Hill is distributed for free in newspaper boxes around the U.S. Capitol building, and mailed directly to all congressional offices.

As of 2020, The Hill’s YouTube channel had 1,100,000 subscribers, ahead of Politico, Axios, and Bloomberg Politics. In October 2020, The Hill's Youtube channel averaged over 1.5 million daily video views and more than 10 million per week; in September 2020 it received over 340 million video views.[12]

The National Press Club’s annual Sandy Hume Memorial Award is named after staffer Sandy Hume, in recognition of her 1997 reporting in The Hill of an attempted Republican coup against then-speaker Newt Gingrich.[13]

In January 2020, Politico reported that the owner is looking for potential buyers of The Hill and and claimed that Finkelstein attended the second 2016 presidential debate as a Trump campaign guest.[14] As of January 2021 no such sale has been effected. [14]

In 2019, The Hill won the Society of Professional Journalists’ First Prizes for Features ("Celebrities dive into midterms, hoping to thwart Trump") and Series ("How The Trump Tax Law Passed").[15]

In 2020, The Hill won the Society of Professional Journalists’ First Prize for Features, for the story "Inside the Secret World of the CIA’s Social Media Team."[16]

Staffing

As of 2021, Bob Cusack currently serves as the editor-in-chief, with Ian Swanson as managing editor.[2]

Masthead[2]

  • James Finkelstein, Chairman
  • Richard Beckman, President
  • Bob Cusack, Editor-in-chief
  • Ian Swanson, Managing Editor
  • Rory McCafferty, Senior Vice President, Digital
  • Sheila Casey, Chief Operating Officer

Current columnists and contributors

Past

Hill TV

In June 2018, The Hill launched Hill.TV, a digital news channel. The channel features Rising, a daily morning news program hosted by Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti.[17] On October 30, 2020, Ball and Enjeti appeared on Useful Idiots and provided an assessment of the legacy of Donald Trump.[18]

Controversies

In 2017, The Hill hired John Solomon.[19] Solomon inserted material from advertisers into journalistic copy, leading to protests from The Hill's publisher, who subsequently left the paper.[20] Eventually Solomon was rebranded as an opinion contributor.[21] In March 2018 he published an interview and series of columns that promoted conspiracy theories regarding Ukraine.[20]

In January 2019, WarnerMedia's CNN reported that Finkelstein was interfering in the editorial independence of the paper in an inappropriate way to minimize criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump. It reported that staff were "in revolt" over Finkelstein's ownership style.[19]

In September 2019, Solomon left The Hill.[why?][19]

In June 2020, Politico reported that Finkelstein's wife, Pamela Gross, was involved in getting then-First Lady Melania Trump acclimated to living and working in the White House.[22] Gross's unpaid arrangement was not disclosed in the several dozen articles The Hill published about the First Lady while Gross was advising her from August 2017 to February 2018, nor were more than a select few Hill employees informed that their boss' wife was an East Wing adviser.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b c Yingling, Jennifer (2014-07-28). "The Hill names Bob Cusack Editor in Chief". The Hill. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Who we are". The Hill. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  3. ^ "The Hill: 'An investment in the arts is an investment in economic growth'". Americans for the Arts Action Fund. February 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  4. ^ "New paper to vie for readers on Capitol Hill". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "New and Old Political Media Are Battling for Dominance in the Century's Wildest Election". AdWeek. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
  6. ^ "Contact Us". The Hill. July 18, 2018 [First published August 5, 2009]. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  7. ^ https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2020/08/17/2020-best-summer-record-cnn-digital-traffic-ratings/
  8. ^ https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/328959/nowthis-the-hill-among-top-10-most-tweeted-ne.html
  9. ^ a b c Mcfadden, Robert D. (November 28, 2012). "Jerry Finkelstein, New York Power Broker, Dies at 96". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  10. ^ Alicia Mundy (1996-12-02). "The In-Your-Face Race" (PDF). Mediaweek. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  11. ^ "CNN Digital Breaks Records, Sees Biggest Audience in History in 2019". Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  12. ^ "The Hill's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com.
  13. ^ "National Press Club Journalism Awards". National Press Club.
  14. ^ a b Lippman, Daniel; Nguyen, Tina. "The Hill's owner seeks potential buyers, investors". Jimmy Finkelstein, owner of The Hill, is shopping his publication … to various media owners
  15. ^ "List of Dateline Awards winners announced at dinner". Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter. 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  16. ^ "Dateline Awards for work published, broadcast in 2019 announced online in historic first for SPJ DC Chapter". Society of Professional Journalists.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "Buck Sexton helps launch Hill.tv with debut of new daily morning show "Rising with Krystal & Buck"". Premiere Networks. 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  18. ^ Useful Idiots, Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on Election Day 2020 and the Future of Both Parties, October 30, 2020
  19. ^ a b c Stelter, Brian; Darcy, Oliver (January 18, 2019). "Jimmy Finkelstein, the owner of The Hill, has flown under the radar. But he's played a key role in the Ukraine scandal". CNN Business. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  20. ^ a b "How a Veteran Reporter Worked with Giuliani's Associates to Launch the Ukraine Conspiracy". ProPublica. 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2020-02-24. {{cite news}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  21. ^ Erik Wemple (2018-05-14). "The Hill's John Solomon moves to new spot as 'opinion contributor'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  22. ^ "Publisher's wife played undisclosed role for Melania Trump". POLITICO.

External links

38°54′11″N 77°02′15″W / 38.903161°N 77.037443°W / 38.903161; -77.037443 (The Hill newspaper)

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