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Mike Madden Leaves Washington City Paper for Washington Post

He became editor of the alt-weekly in 2012.
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Washington City Paper Editor Mike Madden will leave the alt-weekly to become a deputy editor in the Washington Post‘s Outlook section.

Madden became editor of Washington City Paper in 2012, following current Washingtonian Editor Mike Schaffer, who left to go to The New Republic. (I worked at City Paper, too, but never with these individuals.) He came to the paper from Salon, where he was Washington correspondent. He left that job in 2010 to become City Paper‘s managing editor.

Madden published the memo he sent to City Paper staffers Monday; here’s the note Outlook editor Adam Kushner sent around at the Post.

I’m thrilled to announce that Mike Madden, the editor of Washington City Paper, will join Outlook/PostEverything as deputy editor with a focus on our digital presence.

During a tough time for alt weeklies, City Paper under Mike has provided outstanding coverage, from serious news (the homelessness crisis, the schemes of city contractors) to lighter topics (why DC. gyms are proliferating). The result was a lively, sassy, relevant newspaper. It entertains even as it chases the big story – a perfect approach for his new role at Outlook/PostEverything. Befitting tradition, Mike was also quite a talent-spotter as City Paper’s editor: He groomed several recent Post hires including Perry Stein, Jenny Rogers and Carey Jordan.

Before coming to City Paper in 2010, Mike covered politics and elections for Salon, where he wrote about “bitter” voters and Glenn Beck’s investment tips. Before that, he specialized in immigration, national security, and Congress as a correspondent for Gannett’s chain of newspapers, based in their D.C. bureau. The Philadelphia Inquirer gave him his start reporting on local government, education, crime, and daily life in south Jersey.

This job brings Mike full circle: He grew up in Rockville where he read the Post every morning. He now lives in Petworth with his wife and two young children, whom he’s raising to become rabid D.C. United fans. He starts on March 30.

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Andrew Beaujon Washingtonian
Senior editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. His book A Bigger Field Awaits Us: The Scottish Soccer Team That Fought the Great War was published in 2018. He lives in Del Ray.