Letter from the Editor:
It’s The Hill’s 30th birthday and I couldn’t be prouder of what we have become since the fall of 1994.
When The Hill first started, it had a small staff that was solely focused on a print newspaper that came out once a week. I was told the staff of about seven reporters would file their stories on Tuesdays for publication the next day. And every Wednesday, The Hill’s reporters would see a movie.
Why would they spend a good part of the workday watching a matinee? Well, they had another week to report out the one (or maybe two) stories that would appear the following week in print. After all, the internet didn’t exist then.
Fast-forward a few decades. The Hill is now a powerhouse online while also coming out in print three times a week when Congress is in session. We also have dedicated teams on audience, video, opinion and events that didn’t exist a while back. We have streaming shows, including our popular opinion show, “Rising.” On NewsNation, “The Hill” television show runs daily, and “The Hill Sunday” runs over the weekend. The Hill has grown into a 24/7 news operation.
What has been the key to our success? There are many reasons, but a big one is our nonpartisan approach to the news. Politics have gotten a lot more polarizing in recent years, and many media outlets have moved right or left. Not The Hill. We don’t care which party is up or which one is down. We simply call balls and strikes. The Hill has long been regarded by media watchdogs as in the middle, and that won’t be changing — ever.
I have been with The Hill since 2003 and became editor in chief in 2014. Sometimes, I’m asked — what’s the best part of your job? The answer has remained the same over the years: the people at The Hill.
It’s impossible to shout out everyone who contributed to The Hill making it to 30, but I do need to thank former and current editors and colleagues, including Alexander Bolton, Sheila Casey, Jennifer de Freyre-Yingling, the late Albert Eisele, Hugo Gurdon, Greg Nash and the late Marty Tolchin. They all played instrumental roles, and I can’t thank them enough. I also must give a shoutout to Ian Swanson, The Hill’s managing editor. He is a great journalist, manager and force in the newsroom. Ian and I have been in the trenches for a couple of decades and there is no one I want more in my foxhole than him.
Last but certainly not least, I want to thank our readers. Without you, The Hill doesn’t exist. We appreciate your interest in what we have to say, and we will continue to do what we have been doing — telling stories and growing — over the next 30 years.
Sincerely,
Bob Cusack