Overly leaving Washington Post to cover tech lobbying for Politico

Washington Post economy and business editor David Cho and assistant business editor Zachary Goldfarb sent out the following announcement on Friday afternoon:

We are sorry to announce Steven Overly is leaving us to join Politico, where he will cover the tech industry’s efforts to lobby and influence Washington leaders.

Steven joined The Post in 2010 as a reporter for Capital Business, writing about technology, biotechnology and venture capital in the Washington region. He reported on the rapid rise and subsequent decline of LivingSocial, and the District’s efforts to foster a start-up ecosystem. But Steven also developed a knack for reporting pieces beyond his beat. He wrote cover stories on the post-recession economy of Ocean City, Md., local developers pushing buildings to greater heights, and the challenges of immigrant entrepreneurs to secure visas.

After a brief stint covering tech policy for PowerPost, Steven took a yearlong leave of absence to study business journalism at Columbia University as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow. He returned to the newsroom last July to take the over the Innovations blog, where he has most recently written about cars, artificial intelligence and robotics. He explained the reasons humans hate new technology, wrote an obituary for the VCR, and more recently, covered the rise of self-driving cars and their impact on the economy and culture.

Steve also has been a great colleague and a steady presence on the technology team. We wish him the best in his new job. His last day at The Post is May 3.