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
Editors' Picks
Check Out the Inspiring Personal Style (And Killer Outfits) of Nine of the Most Fashionable People in DC Right Now
Would Amazon’s HQ2 Really Be Good for Washington?
8 Day Trips to Do Every Weekend This Fall
The Man Who Sued His Trolls
Most Popular
Kavanaugh’s Character Witness Once Wrote About His Family for Washingtonian. Check Out What His Brother Wrote in to Rebut Him.
I Am Horrified That Brett Kavanaugh Used Girls From My School as a Prop
Trump’s Golf Course Visits Shut Down the Potomac so Often, These Paddlers are Suing
The 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington
We Ate at Three of the Worst-Rated DC Restaurants on Yelp. Here’s What Happened.
September 2018: Style Setters
Related
There Are Still Six Confederate Memorials Around DC. How’s That Possible?
“Investment Layoff” Is a Masterpiece of Corporate Euphemism
Secret Service: Man Claimed to Be Jesus and Plotted to Kidnap One of the Obamas’ Dogs
The New York Times Thinks Its Readers Should Visit CityCenterDC. We Agree!
More from News
Tech Titans 2018: Washington’s Top Tech Leaders
Washingtonian Today: Canoe Sue the President?
Trump’s Golf Course Visits Shut Down the Potomac so Often, These Paddlers are Suing
This New Political Board Game Is Like the DC Version of “Settlers of Catan”