Mike Nizza named executive editor of Bloomberg’s politics site
2:01 p.m. | Aug. 4, 2014 follow this reporter
Bloomberg has hired Mike Nizza away from Esquire as part of the company's efforts to develop a new suite of media brands aimed at a consumer audience, Capital has learned.
Nizza, who currently serves as Esquire's digital editor and was previously managing editor of The Daily, News Corp's short-lived iPad newspaper, will begin his new job at Bloomberg Media Group in the coming weeks. He also has worked as an online editor at AOL and The New York Times.
At the media group, which is in the process of building out a multiplatform journalism operation under the leadership of C.E.O. Justin Smith, Nizza will serve as executive editor of the Bloomberg Politics website that's being helmed by Game Change co-authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. He will report to ABC News veteran Tom Johnson, who on Friday was named executive editor of the full Bloomberg Politics franchise spanning digital, print and television.
The politics site is scheduled to debut, along with a corresponding television show, on Oct. 6, making it the first launch in a protracted rollout that some insiders say has been marked by setbacks and delays.
The idea is to broaden Bloomberg L.P.'s influence by creating new brands that will appeal to readers outside the core audience of traders who subscribe to the company's flagship data-terminal technology, which makes up the bulk of Bloomberg's profits. Smith also is working on stemming losses at the media group's existing properties, such as Bloomberg TV and the weekly magazine Bloomberg Businessweek, which are said to bleed tens of millions of dollars annually.
In addition to Bloomberg Politics, new digital offerings focused on luxury and business are in the works.
Other prominent journalists recruited for the effort in recent months include Gabriel Snyder, Josh Topolsky, Chris Rovzar and John Homans, the long-time executive editor of New York magazine who was poached last month to work with Halperin and Heilemann, a fellow New York alumnus.
Homans will serve as features editor of the politics site, responsible for long-form stories and story development, the company confirmed to Capital this afternoon.
Additionally, Kelly Bare, formerly senior editor of digital projects at newyorker.com, has been named executive producer of the politics site. And Pat King, of "The Daily Show," has been named senior producer of the broader Bloomberg Politics operation.
