Josh was getting a little lonely all by himself at PubliCola headquarters, so we decided to double the size of our staff. Erica C. Barnett, news editor of the Stranger (a friend and former colleague of both Josh and I) will be coming on board at PubliCola ASAP as News Editor. Christopher Frizzelle, the Stranger’s editor, wrote about Erica’s announcement in a gracious post on Slog a couple of hours ago.
In case you are not a Stranger reader, here’s the Barnett bio: Until today Erica was the news editor for Seattle’s alternative newsweekly, the Stranger, where she covered City Hall, state politics, and transportation, edited the paper’s news section, and wrote a weekly politics column. She also contributed frequently to Slog (www.slog.thestranger.com), the Stranger’s blog.
In 2007, she won a Civic Award from the Municipal League of King County for the year’s best government affairs reporting.
Before she came to the Stranger in 2003, Erica was a staff writer for Seattle Weekly. Prior to that, Erica was the senior news editor and city hall columnist for the weekly Austin Chronicle. She has also written for the Texas Observer, Dallas Observer, and Kirkus Reviews.
She also currently writes for the politics blog Shakesville and has her own food blog, The C. is for Cocina.
A native of Houston, Texas, Erica graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin.
We’re very happy to have her on board. I worked side by side with Erica for a couple of years before I left the Stranger in 2005 when she was a news staffer and Josh was the news editor. During those years, I was always amazed—and a little jealous—at how plugged in Erica was (and is) to Seattle politics, and at her remarkable productivity.
We like ECB’s writing, reporting, and (the real reason we hired her) her rolodex. When it comes to knowing the movers and shakers in local politics—she has a source list to die for. A major voice in this town, she has a devoted following (and, yes, as a strong woman fearless about expressing her opinion on controversial topics, she has more than her share of detractors).
Erica has a strong voice, and the last thing we want to do is squelch it. But we have a more laid back and balanced tone here at PubliCola. I don’t expect that will change.
Welcome aboard, ECB. Now go write some stuff and let’s see what happens.
Tweet
Welcome ECB! I didn’t think I could love Publicola even more. Great addition!
Excellent addition to the staff. You all had better be careful or folks will soon start calling you the new MSM.
Peace,
Chad
HOORAY!
Yay!
AWESOME addition, Team Publicola! I’m sure it will be a transition for Erica from the wild and crazy Slog scene, but this will be a great chance for her to grow as a journalist. I’ve appreciated her political analysis in The Stranger but Publicola seems like a better fit for her talents. (The commenters are more thoughtful, too.)
Great! I no longer have to go hunting through the massive amounts of Slog content for ECB’s posts.
I just peed a little in my pants.
Just when you think things can’t get worse, they do.
Nice one! Erica rocks and will be a great addition to the site. Her moxie, keen insights and persistance make for great reporting!
Check this out from http://seattle.metblogs.com/2009/06/17/erica-barnett-leaving-the-stranger/
Erica’s leaving the Capitol Hill compound to hook up with the suddenly-hot Publicola.
Not only does this effectively halve the number of people who actually do work at the Stranger, it also continues the Slog’s descent into shrill one-note unreadability. (Did I miss the memo where they explained how Slog now stands for “Savage: Loathes Obama, Gay”?)
But best of luck to Erica joining Josh Feit’s merry band of awesome. She’s been nothing less than great to me over the years. The red wine is in the mail. (PS: Can we set up a time where I can bust Sandeep in the chops for being Nickels’ man? I have five days of “stranded in my house because no one dared plow the north end” rage that’s needed to get out since December.)
You’re getting the band back together?! Sweet.
Great news.
@7 Me too!
@11
(flicks a bic and throws a frisbee)
I too am excited that Erica is joining Publicola as I regularly read the SLOG primarily for her reports. I come here for politics and Erica has the goods.
Erica is a paragon of virtue with an impeccable reputation. Given the high ethical standards held here, both day-to-day and journalistic, she’ll fit in well. Congratulations. I too look forward to reading her posts.
This comments thread is like a cult. Doesn’t anybody else see that big elephant in the room? As regards the photo, I much prefer Manolo Blahniks.
Erica cult. Count me in.
Awesome news.
Yay PubliCola. Yay ECB.
Fresh.
Stranger is shitting its pants. Barnett was all they had.
Good get PubliCola.
Well put Sandeep.
I do like PubliCola’s even handed tone. It’ll be excellent to see Erica’s reporting chops–which are top notch–adapt to PubliCola.
I pretty much agree with comment #10 about Stranger = Shrill these days.
Congrats Erica.
The Stranger has a real opportunity now to shake up the local news scene much more than this hire will shake up publicola. The problem: no professional would be willing to be overwritten by Dan Savage and Christopher Frizelle.
Will the Stranger editors grant the stylistic and reporting independence needed to reinvent its news section? Or will they further their own descent and hire another young and impressionable writer based on style instead of substance, who tilts toward sensationalism and is easily played by his/ her sources?
I won’t be going to Liberty anymore. Fuck ‘em. I encourage others to do likewise.
Erica is much too loose with the facts for me. I hope this doesn’t become a farce, Publicola is some of the best political writing happening anywhere right now. Please fact check her work and ask to see leaked poll questions. Her rolodex plays her like a fiddle.
@25,
I’m all about PubliCola these days too.
But I disagree about Erica. Great, critical reporter, who aint played by her sources. I should know. I am one.
She knows when I have a good story. She knows when I’m bullshitting. And she calls me on it every time.
I got a right to be hostile, man.
Like Josh Feit, Erica C Barnett, is a spent force, all used up. Like Josh Feit, her credibility is shot.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This comment was edited. Keep it clean Gerard. You don’t need all the gross sex metaphors to make your point.
Hey, I can go back to reading the Stranger now!
@26 – Yeah me too. I suppose only time will tell.
just as impressive are all the ads you’ve got on the left side. publicola’s concept is working. here’s hoping y’all make it pay the bills too. good luck ECB.
I truly wish Publicola success. Savage’s 24/7 tantrums over gay marriage as of late only highlight the need for a more diverse progressive local media.
This could be a great opportunity for Erica to leave behind the trail of polemics, anger, and man-bashing she left at Slog and start the next phase of her career. I’m not holding my breath, though. Her “strong” posts at Slog always generated the most comments.
Great news for the Seattle policical scene. ECB’s the best!
Um, that’s “Political.” Otherwise, I stand by my earlier statement.
I’m looking forward to pithy, newsy scoops from Erica at PubliCola. Great hire!
I am hoping that now that she is free from Savage, Frizelle, et al., Erica will mature as a reporter and that Publicola will continue to grow and thrive.
I am firmly with those who are sick of Savage and his fiefdom of fanboys. I’m going to try and avoid the SLOG and look forward to spending more time here to see what you guys have to say…
I agree- this is awesome. congratulations to erica and all of publicola. there is nowhere to go but up.
Does this mean she’ll actually have to add a little balance to her stories? Or will you continue to let her ignore facts that don’t support her point of view?
Here here! Great addition.
This is great news. Does this mean there will be more coverage of Seattle city council? Not the races, but the actual work they do. I’d sure love to see that…
I hope you hire a copy-editor, too.
“…former colleague of both Josh and I” should be “of both Josh and me” or “of both Josh and mine”. You’re the object in that clause, not the subject.
It’s not printed on dead trees anymore, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be well-written.
Leave something in the liquor cabinet for consumption AFTER the next hard deadline.
Geez. Why the anti-Liberty comment?
@28
Jesus Christ, what did you expect from the persona of a dead porn director?
If you had to edit it, which you didn’t, it would have been better if you had deleted the post altogether. The sleazy connotation, which was intended, is lessened.
When Barnett is attacked, it’s curious that you boys suddenly have delicate sensibilities and have to make changes to the post to protect the delicate sensibilities of your readers. Former Seattle Councilmember Margaret Pageler would be proud of your prudery.
You boys know as well as I do that the real issue here isn’t the “gross sex metaphors.” It’s who is being attacked. Boys, as former, long-term Stranger writers, you boys have seen some “gross sex metaphors.”
I say fuck you for your bullshit hypocracy. Henry Mencken and Hunter Thompson say fuck you too, you bastards.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
This comment was deleted. It was an obsessed troll with a fake email address.
Erica’s local reporting was one The Stranger’s most valuable assets. Her holier-than-thou rants about people who don’t share her lifestyle choices were some of the Slog’s most annoying posts. I hope her work on Publicola will focus on the former and avoid the latter. Haranguing generates pageviews but it also drives away the thoughtful people who counterbalance the trolls.
Congratulations Erica. It’s been 90 days. You can return to “shopping” at QFC.
I’m brand-new to publicola–I followed Erica here, and I look forward to reading her work again. Her writing is always insightful.
Смотреть Видео клипы онлайн бесплатно