Crosscut.com

Crosscut.com is a nonprofit, online newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. Its content is mainly news analysis rather than breaking news like other online newspapers or blogs.

Crosscut.com
TypePublished on weekdays
FormatOnline newspaper
Owner(s)Cascade Public Media
Founded2007
Political alignmentNone
Headquarters401 Mercer Street
Seattle, Washington 98106
Websitecrosscut.com

History

Founding

Crosscut was founded in 2007 by David Brewster,[1][2][3] who also started the Seattle Weekly in 1976 and launched Town Hall Seattle in 1999. Other investors included former Seattle mayor Paul Schell, former Seattle City Councilman and KING-TV commentator Jim Compton, and former KING Broadcasting Company president Stimson Bullitt.

Editors

Until November 2008, the site's editor was former Weekly and Seattle Union Record editor Chuck Taylor, who was also a reporter, editor, and graphic designer at the Seattle Times. He left Crosscut during its transition to a nonprofit. For almost a year, the site was edited by Brewster alone until former Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Seattle Times editor Mark Matassa joined in September 2009. Matassa only stayed with Crosscut for three months, leaving in December to join the administration of new Seattle mayor Mike McGinn.[4] He was replaced by his sister, former Times journalist Michele Matassa-Flores, and former P-I columnist Joe Copeland. Matassa-Flores left in the summer of 2011.

Crosscut was then edited by Greg Hanscom (executive editor), Drew Atkins (managing editor), and Copeland (senior editor). Florangela Davila later came on as managing editor. Currently, Victor Hernandez serves as executive editor, Mark Baumgarten serves as managing editor, and Knute Berger is the editor-at-large.

Transition to a nonprofit

On November 17, 2008, Brewster announced that a switch to nonprofit status was being explored by Crosscut LLC, which necessitated temporary staff cuts.[5][6]

Brewster remained the only employee until September 2009, when grant funding finally materialized and Crosscut was able to hire an editor and support staff,[7] including an editor, an advertising director, and eventually a Web developer.

In October 2009, Crosscut initiated its first pledge drive. Nearly 400 people donated money to support the site's continued existence.

Acquisition by KCTS 9

On December 2, 2015, it was announced that KCTS-TV, a local PBS affiliate based in Seattle, would merge with Crosscut and another website to form Cascade Public Media.[8][9][10][11]

Notable writers
  • Knute Berger – As the former editor-in-chief of the Seattle Weekly," Berger wrote a column named "Mossback" about the idiosyncrasies of Seattle living, history and politics. After leaving the Weekly, Berger continued writing the column for Crosscut. His articles remain one of the most popular features on the site.
  • Charles Cross former editor of the Rocketsnd of the Backstreets magazine, as well as Author of “Heavier than Heaven” an award winning biography on the life and times of Kurt Cobain.
  • John Carlson - also a conservative talk radio host and television commentator
  • David Kroman - Crosscut's city reporter, who covers issues that include police reform, homelessness, and other subjects within the city of Seattle.
  • Samantha Larson - Former science and tech reporter for Crosscut.
  • Drew Atkins - In addition to serving as managing editor, Atkins occasionally contributed writing on a variety of subjects, including investigative pieces and in-depth features.
  • Cambria Roth - Roth worked as the site's Audience Engagement Coordinator, and contributed articles on a range of subjects.
  • David Brewster - While he no longer contributes to the page, Brewster was a regular contributor in the site's early days.

References
  1. Connelly, Joel (April 1, 2007). "Crosscut.com brings a fresh news voice to Northwest". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  2. Idealog: Crosscut.com, new online daily for the Northwest, launches April 2, 2007
  3. Pryne, Eric (February 14, 2007). "Weekly's founding editor to start Web newspaper". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  4. Seely, Mike (December 17, 2009). "Mark Matassa Leaving Crosscut to Become Mike McGinn's Communications Director". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  5. Eskenazi, Stuart (November 18, 2008). "Online news site Crosscut poised to switch to nonprofit". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  6. Letter from the Publisher
  7. http://crosscut.com/2009/11/18/crosscut/19293/Updated:-Crosscut-s-new-approach/ Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine Updated: Crosscut's new approach
  8. Hanscom, Greg; Power-Drutis, Tamara (December 2, 2015). "An Exciting New Chapter for Northwest Public Media". Crosscut.com. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  9. Cullen, Hilda (December 2, 2015). "News Website Crosscut Merging into KCTS 9" (PDF) (Press release). KCTS-TV. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  10. Tu, Janet I. (December 2, 2015). "KCTS-TV to absorb Crosscut and another local website". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  11. Connelly, Joel (December 2, 2015). "KCTS-TV will merge with Crosscut". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
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