April 26, 2010

The Mike Allen Piece

Everyone's talking about the long piece in the New York Times magazine about Politico's Mike Allen, who has become Washington's most influential journalist without having a life, or sleeping. I agree with Dan Kennedy's assessment:

Politico produces good work. Allen produces good work — it was he who broke the story last summer about Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth’s plan to hold paid salons in her home with lobbyists, Post journalists and government officials. There is a lot of talent and smarts at Politico, and I’m not suggesting that we ignore it.

But the overall sensibility of Politico is perhaps best described by Allen himself, who told Rose and Auletta last night (I’m paraphrasing) that his readers aren’t satisfied merely to know the score; they want to keep track of the entire game, inning by inning. You wonder if it has ever occurred to Allen that politics might not be a sporting event.

I read the Politico print edition for the first time when I was in Washington last week- it really is like a political version of the sports page.

Posted by Stephen Silver at April 26, 2010 05:02 PM
Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?