I love Don, Robert says. I plan to start a new venture when I depart., One minute later, his boss, Politico owner Robert Allbritton, put out his: Watching these extraordinary professionals blossom as leaders, stretching their areas of expertise as their responsibilities grew, has been one of my great satisfactions at Politico.. The question on Allbrittons mind: Do you want to put a big bet on something you already have a big bet on? When Comcast bought stakes in Vox and BuzzFeedfor$1 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively,Jim thought it would be insane not to take advantage of this moment. Be a part of this. The investigations forced our hand, Allbritton says. Instead, VandeHei argued that Allbritton should capitalize on the opportunity before him. The Tuscan-themed event. In other words, the Allbritton family might have to take less profit for a time. I like driving myself to work, shopping for my own groceries. In the end, the riftwhether it was over how best to manage growth or how best to compensate the people who had built the company into a behemothwas too much for the partnership to bear. They seemed skeptical, especially of VandeHei. The only dark clouds, in fact, had little to do with Politico itself. There were handshakes all around. Were done cutting, Allbritton tells me. True, our first two guys came from the Post, but most came from all over the place.. To this new staff, they seemed an odd pair. Allbritton makes a circle with his thumb and forefinger. [Breitbart] was a genius at understanding how to read [a story] and then pull from it what would move the needle on the left and the right, says the former executive. According to a source familiar with the discussions, VandeHei believed Axel Springer would pay three times Politicos assessed value for whatever portion of the company it acquired. Robert thought Jim was interested in the shiny new object, says a Politico executive, but he wasnt interested in actually running it.. Read More Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are joined by Elena Allbritton, left, Robert Allbritton, second from left, and Barby Allbritton as they arrive . Weymouth and Post executives wanted to use the salons to help meet the financial challenges. He wanted to go to give speeches and tell the Politico story. A former member of Politicos leadership says VandeHei made public appearances to promote the companynot himself. Two hours later, he took the elevator back down. I had plans to bring the bank around, Robert Allbritton says. He takes a narrow view of the enforcement action: At the end of the day, one person was lying, another was stealingboth were low-level people., At the height of the scandal, investigators turned their sights on Riggs board members and executives. The three talked. Mike Allen came from Time, Roger Simon from Bloomberg News, Ben Smith from the New York Daily News. Dr. Allbritton lives in Georgetown with her husband Robert, publisher of Politico, and three children. 1969) Law School: LLB, Baylor University (1949) Too many top reporters had left for other news organizations or taken buyouts. We would like to hire two., Most Washington editors and reporters are skeptical about claims that Politico is turning a profit, in part because Allbritton has hired so many high-priced journalists. Don Graham is chairman of the Washington Post Company; Len Downie was executive editor of the Post. Around this time, VandeHei got word through media consultant David Bass that Allbritton wanted changes at the Capitol Leader. Dill walked over to get a better look at the screen. A banker from Houston, Joe proceeded to build an empire that included eight TV stations, most notably Washington's ABC affiliate, WJLA. Other criticism was more legitimate. That Saturday, he asked VandeHei to meet him for what they now call the coffee walk. Driving to Harriss house in Alexandria, VandeHei practiced his pitch. Allbritton describes these mistakes as whoopsies and says they werent out of the ordinary for a first-year executive. A former member of Politicos leadership insists that the mistakes originated from incorrect information provided by Allbritton Communications financial managers. They met in the basements of homes in Northern Virginia about starting a company that would publish on the Web only. Allbrittons retirement lasted less than a year. Seven months after the funeral, his son emerged from his grief with dramatic plans to transform the company hed inherited. While there, he landed a part-time job at the local daily. I absolutely admire what hes been able to do with himself and his life. Allbritton Communications seemed an ideal buyer. The company raised $200 million in the public debt market. [1], After naval service and law school, he borrowed $5,000 to buy land outside Houston, which was later used in the construction of a freeway connecting Houston and Galveston, earning Allbritton a small fortune. But theyd come to the conclusion that the Post under Downie wasnt nimble enough to produce the Internet and newspaper publication they hoped to create. His father, Joe Allbritton, had been a big player in Washington business and political circles since coming from Texas in 1973; he entered the media market by buying the old Washington Star and Channel 7, and he took control of Riggs National Bank. Were both very fortunate people, he says. I had one of the best one or two jobs in journalism. He was replaced by Susan Glasser, a former Foreign Policy editor whod launched Politicos new magazine. Friedman called CBS News president Sean McManus to make sure he could make good on the promise; VandeHei called Harris at the Post. He hired a former Hill editor, brought on 50 employees, and prepared to roll out the new publication: the Capitol Leader. The bank was bumping along. Joe Allbritton grew up in DLo, Mississippi, and then moved west to Texas with his family. VandeHei has told others that all employees of his new company will get stock. According to a former member of Politicos leadership, they wondered what might happen if the owner got more involved in the day-to-day journalism at his politics site. Allbritton can look down on helicopters banking past the Kennedy Center. Many veterans, such as Andrea McCarren, found themselves out on the street. What do you think we ought to do? his mother asked. He said they risked losing their high-profile appearances on TV talk shows; they would drop into oblivion. Deciding not to buy the nine television stations from the New York Times Company was a crucial decision for Allbrittonand for the DC news business. Bass convinced VandeHei to meet with Ryan and Allbritton. Until then, VandeHei hadnt shown much ambition. And you had this whole leadership team that was inspired and motivated by Jim. First published in January 2007, Politico has become something of a media phenomenon. The reporting sometimes seemed breathless and skimpy during the 2007 presidential campaign. Early life [ edit] Joe Allbritton was born on December 29, 1924, in D'Lo, Mississippi, the sixth of seven children. She has been published in several journals and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and member of the American Society for Dermatological Surgery and the American Medical Association. He agreed. I learned by osmosis how to deal with people, what was a good risk, what was a bad risk, Robert says. Every Friday, Allbritton meets with news directors at WJLA and NewsChannel 8; then he gets together with Harris and VandeHei, as he does most mornings. When Harris and VandeHei announced they were leaving for Politico, Don Graham sent Allbritton a note wishing him luck. But when they started to add up the costs of starting such a venture, which would require about 48 employees, they arrived at $2 million. A Texan with a Washington footprint big enough to rival the Lone Star State is how the Washington Business Journal described Joe Allbritton. Mike Allen, Politicos chief White House correspondent, rocked the Posts reputation for journalistic ethics with a story in July about the papers plan to bring reporters, editors, politicians, and lobbyists together in a salonpaid for by corporate sponsorsat publisher Katharine Weymouths home. Such a change could have given global throw-weight to the growing news outlet and could have benefited VandeHei financially. Riggs was in the past; Allbritton Communications was the future, and Robert was in charge. Late last summer, VandeHei began pushing Allbritton to consider selling a chunk of the company. These were things I didnt ever know were there, he says. Both VandeHei and Harris had worked with Allen at the Post. Additional executives left Politico around the time of the power struggle. In 2000, she was practicing dermatology in Washington; he was in the banking and media business. He returned to Rosslyn and met with the team that had flown to Oklahoma City. We were into personal computers before personal computers were cool, Robert says. All except Graham have since retired or changed jobs. In the 80s, he took control of Riggs Bank, the citys largest and most historic financial institution. Less than a year later, VandeHei was working in Washington. But that wasnt always practicable because he wasnt always in the office on a day-to-day basis. This muddled TBDs vision and direction, Brady says: His decisions sometimes seemed like they came out of nowhere.. It was 1996. Come over to the Jefferson.. Some staffers were livid at VandeHei and his allies for making their announcement smack in the middle of a presidential election; others were confused about the reasons for the mass departure of much of the companys leadership. Then there was the companys mastery of the dark arts of internet traffic generationlearned from an unconventional source. No, he said. Are they good stations? his father asked. For me, Politico is pure digital, says Staci Kramer, who lives in St. Louis and covers the media for the Web site paidContent.org. Tolchin had discussed the Capital Leader editing job. In those days, he regularly had lunch with other reporters at a sushi dive near the old Riggs headquarters. Four years later, he sold the newspaper to Time Inc. but kept the television station. VandeHei and Harris chose not to answer the question directly. Joe Allbritton phoned his son a few weeks before Christmas 2000 and said, I have six weeks to live.. Seeking to bridge the gap between print and digital news, it has hired many top journalists and broken more than a few stories. Senate investigators discovered that Riggs had helped Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet hide millions of dollars in assets. If he was right about that, says the source, he would have gotten a very handsome financial reward for his work, and he desperately wanted it., A former member of Politicos leadership says personal financial incentives had nothing to do with VandeHeis recommendation that Allbritton sell. This friendship served Politico well. Harris changed your mind, didnt he? said his wife, Autumn, a social worker and former Capitol Hill staffer. Bio Don grabbed those opportunities and did something with them. You hate to see an institution that was around for 150 years go away, Allbritton says, but it still lives on with new owners. And they have been advertising in Politicos print and Web editions. This article first appeared in the August 2009 issue of The Washingtonian. You cant skimp on that.. Publications. We both had the belief that Washington journalism was not living up to its reputation, VandeHei says.
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