The Ohio Capital Journal is a left-leaning nonprofit news website covering Ohio state government through news stories and “principled progressive commentary.” ¹ Ohio Capital Journal is part of the States Newsroom network along with ten other affiliated news websites across the United States. ²

The nonprofit makes its content free for other websites to republish with credit. ³

Staff

The editor-in-chief of the Ohio Capital Journal is David DeWitt. DeWitt has more than 15 years’ experience covering Ohio politics, education, health care, crime and courts. He previously worked for National Journal and the New York Observer. He has also written for the Columbus Dispatch, Girlfriends magazine, Bleacher Report, and the Ashtabula Star Beacon. ⁴

Susan Tabbed is a reporter who has previously worked for the Newark Advocate, the Glasgow Daily Times, the Athens Messenger, and WOUB Public Media. ⁵

Tyler Buchanan is a reporter who has covered Ohio politics for a decade. He was previously a reporter and editor of the Athens Messenger and Vinton-Jackson Courier newspapers. ⁶

Jake Zuckerman is a reporter who previously reported on the West Virginia legislature for Charleston Gazette-Mail. He previously worked for the Northern Virginia Daily. ⁷

States Newsroom

States Newsroom is formerly the Newsroom Network. The organization is made up of several state-level news websites focusing on politics and government from a left-progressive perspective, as well as a Washington, D.C. bureau. The left-leaning Hopewell Fund, part of the Arabella Advisors network of liberal “dark money” groups, was initially the fiscal sponsor of States Newsroom. In 2019, the organization rebranded and became an independent nonprofit. Beginning in 2019, it started five state capital newsrooms and a Washington bureau. It now has 11 bureaus. ⁸

Chris Fitzsimon is the director and publisher of the organization. He was the founder and director from 2004 to 2017 of NC Policy Watch, a left-leaning news and commentary outlet in North Carolina. He hosted a weekly radio show and wrote a weekly newspaper column about North Carolina politics. He founded the liberal think tank Common Sense Foundation. He was also a former staffer for North Carolina Speaker of the House Dan Blue Jr., a Democrat now serving as the state Senate Democratic Leader.

Fitzsimon said the States Newroom editorial board is “on the liberal side,” but said that is no different than the New York Times. ⁹

Fitzsimon said that the Hopewell Fund was an “incubator” in funding, and claimed Hopewell had no “editorial say or input.” ¹⁰

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4. About. Ohio Capital Journal. Accessed February 8, 2020. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/about/
5. About. Ohio Capital Journal. Accessed February 8, 2020. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/about/
6. About. Ohio Capital Journal. Accessed February 8, 2020. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/about/
7. About. Ohio Capital Journal. Accessed February 8, 2020. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/about/
8. About. States Newsrooms. Accessed February 8, 2020. https://statesnewsroom.com/about/
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