It appears that just a week after its writers voted to unionize with the Writers of America, East, Gothamist owner Joe Ricketts pulled the plug on DCist, along with the other -ist sites and DNAinfo.com.
I must have missed the news that the DNAinfo founder had purchased Gothamist last March, so the news that the two outlets were connected was as much a surprise to me as the whopper this evening.
DCist and the other sites now redirect to a statement by Ricketts explaining that it was a business decision. Washingtonian reported that at least one writer only learned of the news this evening when she refreshed the homepage. According to Robert Feder employees will receive ‘three months of paid’ administrative leave” at their full salaries, plus four weeks of severance, according to the company.”
Full statement by Joe Ricketts
I loved reading DCist over the years and appreciated their coverage of city-wide news. Along with the Washington City Paper, DCist was one of the sites I turned to most frequently for breaking local news. There was much that changed over the years. The humor and wittiness of the writing in its early start were one of my favorite things about it. As Gothamist grew, it seemed to tone down a bit but their reporting was still excellent. Their writers were passionate and skilled and showed a love for this city that was a pleasure to read.
I look forward to seeing where those writers end up. Many previous writers and editors are still covering DC for other outlets such as City Paper, Washington Business Journal, and Washingtonian.