DCist
| The District's (unofficial) homepage. | |
| Owner(s) | WAMU/American University |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Rob Goodspeed, Mike Grass |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Ceased publication | 2017; 2024 |
| City | Washington, D.C. |
| Country | United States |
| Website | dcist |
| Free online archives | www |
DCist began as a volunteer-run blog focused on Washington, D.C., in the same family of "-ist" websites as Gothamist, LAist, and Chicagoist.[1] A professional editor began steering the publication in 2007 as it became a go-to news source.[2]
The staff grew to three people[3] by the time billionaire Joe Ricketts purchased the company in early 2017. Several months later, Ricketts shut all of the websites down after newsroom staff in New York voted to unionize.[4]
D.C. public radio station WAMU joined KPCC (FM) in and WNYC to purchase several of the respective sites from Ricketts in a bid to expand the radio stations' digital audiences.[5] DCist relaunched in 2018.[6]
After operating as separate teams for two years, WAMU's local newsroom and DCist began collaborating[7] as a single team during the COVID-19 pandemic and announced a multiyear plan to reshape its news division and provide more in-depth coverage of the Washington metropolitan area.[8]
However, within three years the public radio station divested from local news by eliminating 16 positions.[9] Following the layoffs, several former DCist workers created a new digital news outlet, The 51st.[10]
The day that DCist stopped publishing, WAMU implemented a pop-up message that redirected visitors away from the DCist website, effectively preventing access to its 20-year archive.[11] After significant public pressure, WAMU removed the redirect and allowed access to the DCist archives,[12] promising they would remain available for at least one year.[13] After one year, DCist.com was still hosted by WAMU and no plan had been announced for its permanent archive. But Washington City Paper media columnist Vince Morris posted on social media[14] that District of Columbia Public Library is in the process of acquiring rights to the site from American University. In the meantime, the library has created a page for the site archives to help readers access Wayback Machine copies of articles of every DCist article.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ Chung, Jen (23 August 2004). "Beltway Gets -isted: Welcome, DCist". Gothamist. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Mathis, Sommer (7 May 2007). "DCist Goes Pro". DCist. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Austermuhle, Martin (3 Nov 2017). "What The Loss Of DCist Means For D.C.: A Former Editor's View". WAMU. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Newman, Leland (2 Nov 2017). "DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shut Down After Vote to Unionize". New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Falk, Tyler (23 Feb 2018). "Three public radio stations acquire Gothamist sites". Current. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Nnamdi, Kojo (14 June 2018). "The Relaunch Of DCist–And What It Means For The Local Media Landscape". WAMU. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Around WAMU (22 July 2020). "Interim Leadership Changes at WAMU and DCist". WAMU. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Around WAMU (30 March 2021). "WAMU To Expand Local News Coverage As Part Of Plan To Strengthen Commitment To Washington, D.C. Region". WAMU. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Ryals, Mitch (12 March 2024). "Did WAMU Actually Lay Off 16 Staffers, Rather Than 15?". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Izadi, Elahe (16 July 2024). "Former DCist staff launch the 51st, new local news site for Washington". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Beaujon, Andrew (19 April 2024). "Why Did WAMU Close DCist?". Washingtonian. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Kauffman, Kelly (6 March 2024). "For the Record: The battle to preserve the online archives of now-shuttered newsrooms". MuckRock. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Vigliotti, Andie (28 Feb 2024). "DCist archives available to public after WAMU shutters local news outlet". DC News Now. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ Morris, Vince. "Scoop!". X. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "DCist Archive". District of Columbia Public Library.