Politico editor in chief John Harris and CEO Patrick Steel sent out the following announcement on Friday:
Team,
Patrick and I have an exciting leadership announcement this morning—a move that reflects big ambitions for the publication in the weeks and months ahead.
We are creating a new position in our editorial leadership designed to capitalize on the enormous opportunities as POLITICO increasingly competes and wins in more and more arenas, domestically and abroad. The new job will be global editor, and the first person to hold it will be Matt Kaminski, who will join us in the Rosslyn newsroom in early September. Since joining the POLITICO family in 2014, Matt has proven to be a unique talent, which was on full display as he imagined, built, and led an award-winning news operation in Europe. His entrepreneurial spirit, hunger to innovate and fierce desire to win are perfect qualities for this new role. Most importantly, he has been a true partner to me and Carrie as we’ve vaulted the publication to a new level of global influence. The three of us are motivated by shared vision to take POLITICO’s already recognized dominance of politics and policy to new markets and new audiences over the next several years.
Robert Allbritton has given this new position a clear mandate: Conceive and execute on ideas for new coverage areas, new editorial platforms, and potentially even new publications. These new offerings will take advantage of POLITICO’s demonstrated authority at breaking news and illuminating the intersection of people, ideas, and policy debates that are shaping events around the world. While Carrie’s primary mandate is to ensure that POLITICO remains the dominant politics and policy news organization in the United States, Matt will manage our editorial expansion beyond the U.S. and Europe, reaching new influencer audiences with high-impact news and analysis. He will be laser-focused on identifying opportunities to more regularly take advantage of POLITICO’s breadth of reporting resources and to reach new audiences of all stripes outside our existing footprint on the most important issues shaping debates and power struggles in today’s evolving global economy. This position will report directly to me.
The success of our European venture is a source of deep pride to both us and Axel Springer and is pivotal to the long-term strategies of both companies. In tandem with Axel Springer, we’ve started the search—both internally and externally—to find the best person to lead our European news operation. Until we find that person, Matt will continue his duties as the executive editor in Europe, traveling frequently and communicating regularly with the superbly talented managing editor Stephen Brown and Kate Day, who oversees our growing footprint in London. Once a successor is found, Matt will concentrate on maximizing the editorial leverage of all POLITICO outlets on a global scale.
We now have two of the strongest editors of their generation leading POLITICO journalism in the United States and around the world. This advance into new subjects and new locales will make both our US operations and the European joint venture stronger. Indeed, this growth will make this a better place to work—more fun and more impact—for all 600 of our journalists and business professionals worldwide.
John and Patrick
