Washington: US politics and policy juggernaut Politico will launch in Australia later this year, taking on the established press gallery in Canberra with a product that targets local and global readers alike.
The project will be led by former Politico editorial director Ryan Heath, an Australian who has also worked in politics in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Politico’s daily “Playbook” is considered a must-read in Washington, with its blend of daily news, who’s who, insider gossip and upcoming events. It said it will launch “Canberra Playbook” after the winter parliamentary recess.
“Politico’s expansion to Australia is natural,” said the company’s chief executive officer. “We will deliver the same essential US and European coverage that our audiences in the western hemisphere depend on.
“And we will be even better positioned to help readers around the globe understand important economic and geopolitical developments in the Indo-Pacific, from trade and defence to energy and critical minerals.”
Heath said Australians needed journalism that explained power dynamics and connected the dots globally, and Politico was ideally poised to deliver it.
“We take politicians and policy seriously – it’s all we do. We will bring that depth and new angles to political journalism in Canberra, just as we have everywhere else we operate,” he said.
Heath grew up on the NSW Mid-North Coast and attended the University of Technology in Sydney.
He worked in Whitehall in the UK and as a speechwriter for the European Commission before co-founding Politico Europe in Brussels. He later became the outlet’s New York-based editorial director before moving into consulting.
The Australian embassy in Washington hosted an event with Politico in November in which the outlet’s senior journalists discussed US politics and power dynamics for an Australian and American audience.
More to come
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.