The Banner expanding to Prince George’s County

The Banner announced it will begin news coverage in Prince George’s County this spring, continuing its ambition to serve readers across Maryland.

Banner CEO Bob Cohn shared the news in an internal email to staff on February 5:

I am happy to announce we are accelerating our plans to expand The Banner’s coverage into Prince George’s County. Starting this spring, we’ll be putting reporters on the ground in this vital part of the state, focusing on local news in and around key towns including Bowie, Laurel, Greenbelt and College Park.

As you’ll recall, we said last year that we saw our move into Montgomery County as a test case for expansion beyond the Baltimore region and, if Montgomery panned out, we’d go into Prince George’s.

The evidence shows we are filling a real need in Montgomery, with 8,000 paid subscribers and more than 550 stories published since launch last September. Montgomery now accounts for more than 10 percent of our total subscribers, about the same as Howard and Anne Arundel counties. Our team there, led by Zuri Berry, is covering a range of stories from government and business to education and food, and is committed to the kind of accountability journalism we are known for in Baltimore.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be hiring a small corps of reporters and editors, and they’ll work closely with the Montgomery team as we explore the best way to serve communities in the Washington region.