The Washington Post has found a new way to cut costs: publish news without paying for it.
Tuesday’s Health & Science section leads with two articles written by reporters with Kaiser Health News. The relatively new operation is financed by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Its web site says KHN is “dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible analysis and information on health issues.” Its articles are available to “partner news organizations and the public free of charge.”
For the Post, using Kaiser Health News amounts to outsourcing the news at no cost. For the publisher, trying to save every dollar, it beats paying your own reporters.
Don’t get me wrong: Kaiser Health News is a legit news operation, based on the proposition that good journalism can come from newsrooms supported by nonprofits. Laurie McGinley, executive editor for news at KHN, is a veteran Washington reporter. She got her start at States News Service and wrote for the Wall Street Journal for 27 years and she covered national health care policy. The Kaiser staff is studded with veteran journalists from National Public Radio, the Baltimore Sun, and other newsrooms.
Kaiser Health News comes with ties to the Washington Post. Former Post executive editor Leonard Downie is chairman of its national advisory committee. Washington Post Company senior vice president Gerald Rosberg sits on the Kaiser Family Foundation board.
The foundation, which supports the news service, says it is “not associated” with health insurance giant Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. Industrialist Henry Kaiser and his wife Bess established the foundation in 1948.
It’s not likely that Henry and Bess could anticipate their money would wind up providing free news content for the Washington Post.
What the Post gains is a slight boost to its balance sheet by cutting editorial expenses. What it loses is a newspaper that readers come to for original content they cannot find elsewhere.
All the News That Doesn’t Cost Us Anything
The Washington Post has found a new way to cut costs: publish news without paying for it.
Tuesday’s Health & Science section leads with two articles written by reporters with Kaiser Health News. The relatively new operation is financed by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Its web site says KHN is “dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible analysis and information on health issues.” Its articles are available to “partner news organizations and the public free of charge.”
For the Post, using Kaiser Health News amounts to outsourcing the news at no cost. For the publisher, trying to save every dollar, it beats paying your own reporters.
Don’t get me wrong: Kaiser Health News is a legit news operation, based on the proposition that good journalism can come from newsrooms supported by nonprofits. Laurie McGinley, executive editor for news at KHN, is a veteran Washington reporter. She got her start at States News Service and wrote for the Wall Street Journal for 27 years and she covered national health care policy. The Kaiser staff is studded with veteran journalists from National Public Radio, the Baltimore Sun, and other newsrooms.
Kaiser Health News comes with ties to the Washington Post. Former Post executive editor Leonard Downie is chairman of its national advisory committee. Washington Post Company senior vice president Gerald Rosberg sits on the Kaiser Family Foundation board.
The foundation, which supports the news service, says it is “not associated” with health insurance giant Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. Industrialist Henry Kaiser and his wife Bess established the foundation in 1948.
It’s not likely that Henry and Bess could anticipate their money would wind up providing free news content for the Washington Post.
What the Post gains is a slight boost to its balance sheet by cutting editorial expenses. What it loses is a newspaper that readers come to for original content they cannot find elsewhere.
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
Most Popular in News & Politics
Organizers Say More Than 100,000 Expected for DC’s No Kings Protest Saturday
Cheryl Hines Suddenly Has a Lot to Say About RFK Jr. and MAGA
Most Powerful Women in Washington 2025
Shutdown Hits Two-Week Mark, House Speaker Feels Threatened by Naked Cyclists, and Big Balls’ Attackers Get Probation
Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2025
Washingtonian Magazine
October Issue: Most Powerful Women
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
Want to Live in a DC Firehouse?
DC Punk Explored in Three New History Books
The Local Group Fighting to Keep Virginia’s Space Shuttle
Alexandria’s “Fancy Pigeon” Has a New Home
More from News & Politics
Washington Spirit Playoffs: Everything You Need to Know
Some Feds Are Driving for Uber as Shutdown Grinds On, Congressman Claims Swastika Was Impossible to See on Flag, and Ikea Will Leave Pentagon City
Brittany Pettersen on Being a New Mom While in Congress
Organizers Say More Than 100,000 Expected for DC’s No Kings Protest Saturday
Democracy Melted in Front of the Capitol Yesterday
Judge Halts Shutdown Layoffs—for Now; Virginia AG Candidates Will Debate Tonight; Flying Ferry to Be Tested on Potomac
Eduardo Peñalver Will Be Georgetown University’s 49th President
Cheryl Hines Suddenly Has a Lot to Say About RFK Jr. and MAGA