Mike Allen, a franchise player for the news website Politico, is leaving the Washington, D.C. based, conversation leading publication after the fall elections.
Allen spent time in Connecticut as a state capitol reporter for the New York Times. He was one of a core group of former newspaper journalists there at the founding of Politico in 2007. Since then the website – and daily free tabloid – has undergone dramatic growth diving deeper and deeper into Washington, D.C. politics with products based on the “one page briefing” model.
Allen has made a name for himself as the author of the daily tip sheet known as “Playbook.” He is also very much the public ambassador for Politico serving as the host of morning events with news makers and other multi-media productions.
The departure of Allen, co-founder Jim VandeHei and three others, appears to stem from disagreements inside the business about the future of the news organization. VandeHei reportedly plans a new venture he says will not compete with Politico. Having said that, it is worth noting that both VandeHei and Allen worked at the Washington Post which is now owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos who is committed to transforming the Post in the Internet age. VandeHei and Allen clearly have insight on how to do that.
Allen is somewhat of an enigma because of a non-stop work ethic that borders on strange. Few know when he sleeps or even where he lives. While working at the state capitol in Hartford some of his Connecticut colleagues wondered whether he actually slept in the 5th floor press room. He was a dogged reporter who successfully put Connecticut on the Times’ front page numerous times during his short tenure.
There is a more dramatic assessment of the situation at Politico in Friday’s edition of the Washington Post.
