NOTUS, “building the next great Washington newsroom,” to rebrand and double staff

Another billionaire-backed news organization has announced ambitions to expand into the void created by The Washington Post’s layoffs, reports Nieman Lab.

According to the Nieman Lab post, “NOTUS, a nonprofit newsroom backed by Politico founder Robert Allbritton that covers “government and politics with the fresh eyes of newcomers and the expertise of veterans,” is rebranding and doubling its staff, as first reported by Semafor’s Max Tani. In 2024, editor-in-chief Tim Grieve described NOTUS to then-Post reporter Jeremy Barr as “essentially like a teaching hospital for journalism” because it acts as a training ground for fellows at the Allbritton Journalism Institute, which Allbritton founded in 2023. (He is also NOTUS’ publisher.)”

“The world of Washington journalism is in a moment of generational change,” Allbritton, Grieve, and CEO Arielle Elliott wrote in the memo. “We’re going to seize it by building the next great Washington newsroom — a team of reporters and editors who will cover government, politics, policy, local news and D.C. sports with the power of The Washington Post in the 1970s, the punch of Politico in the 2010s and the audience focus required to build a sustainable news organization in 2026.”