Fortune names new Washington bureau chief

Nina Easton was named as Fortune maagazine’s new Washington bureau chief. Easton was previously at the Boston Globe, where she was the deputy Washington bureau chief and lead national political writer. She’s also a contributor to Fox News, and has been a commentator on CNN’s “NewsNight,â€? ABC’s “This Weekâ€? and CBS’s “Face the Nation.â€?

“Nina is an exceptional reporter and gifted writer,” says managing editor Eric Pooley in a news release. “She has a rare ability to break away from the pack and find fresh approaches to big stories, and a nose for great stories that others overlook.”

“Fortune has a long and esteemed history of producing cutting-edge social and political writing alongside its business coverage, so I’m especially honored to be joining the magazine’s ranks,’ says Easton.

Easton is the author of “Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Ascendancy” (Simon & Schuster, 2002), which was praised by the Washington Post for telling the story of post-Reagan conservatism “more inventively, exhaustively and entertainingly than anyone else.â€? Her insights into the rise of the modern political right prompted The Wall Street Journal to dub her “the Dian Fossey of conservatism.â€?

At the Globe, Easton co-authored “John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography” (Public Affairs), served as a lead editor of the 2003 newspaper series on which the book was based, and oversaw much of the paper’s 2004 presidential campaign coverage. From 1988 until 1998, Easton was a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and its Sunday Magazine. Her articles won numerous awards, including the National Headliners Award for best magazine writing and the Sunday Magazine Editors Award for investigative reporting.

Before joining the Los Angeles Times, she covered business for The American Banker, BusinessWeek and Legal Times. In 1982, she co-authored the book “Reagan’s Ruling Class: Portraits of the President’s Top 100 Officials”. She is a native of California and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cal-Berkeley.