.svg) | |
| Type | Daily newspaper (when Congress is in session) |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner | CW Holdings, LLC (on behalf ofNexstar Media Group) |
| Founders | |
| Editor | Bill Sammon |
| Managing editor | Ian Swanson[1] |
| Photo editor | Greg Nash |
| Founded | September 1, 1994; 31 years ago (1994-09-01) |
| Language | American English |
| Headquarters | 1625K St., NW, Suite 900,Washington, D.C., 20006U.S. 38°54′11″N77°02′15″W / 38.90306°N 77.03750°W /38.90306; -77.03750 (The Hill newspaper) |
| City | Washington, D.C. |
| Country | United States |
| Circulation | 24,000 print (as of December 2012)[2][3] |
| ISSN | 1521-1568 |
| OCLC number | 31153202 |
| Website | thehill |
The Hill, formed in 1994, is an American newspaper and digital media company based inWashington, D.C.[4] Focusing on politics, policy, business and international relations,The Hill's coverage includes theU.S. Congress, the presidency andexecutive branch, andelection campaigns, among other topics.[5] Its stated mission is "nonpartisan reporting on the inner workings of government and the nexus of politics and business," and other sources have confirmed its reputation as a nonpartisan news organization.[6][7][8][9]
The company's primary outlet isTheHill.com.The Hill is additionally distributed in print for free around the Washington, D.C., area, and distributed to all congressional offices. It has been owned byNexstar Media Group since 2021. In 2020,The Hill was ranked second for online politics readership across all news sites, behind onlyCNN, remaining ahead ofPolitico,Fox News,NBCNews.com, andMSNBC. As of October 2025,The Hill attracts about 42 million monthly website visits.[10][11]
The company was formed as a newspaper in 1994 bypower broker and New York businessmanJerry Finkelstein,[12] andMartin Tolchin, a former correspondent forThe New York Times. New York RepresentativeGary L. Ackerman was also a major shareholder.[4] The name of the publication alludes to "Capitol Hill" as asynecdoche for theUnited States Congress and government generally.[13]
In 2012, James A. Finkelstein assumed control of the organization.[14][1][2]
In 2016,The New York Times reported thatThe Hill was "proceeding with ambitious expansion plans" to become a national brand publication, and its website traffic increased 126% over the prior year, and was abovePolitico's traffic for the period.[15]
Following the2016 U.S. presidential election,The Street reported thatThe Hill saw the largest increase in online political readership among political news sites, with an increase of 780%. CNN and Politico saw smaller increases over the period,[16] makingThe Hill "the fastest-growing political news site".[17] In 2017,The Hill was also cited by Twitter as one of the top 10 "most-tweeted" news sources.[18] A 2017 study by theBerkman Klein Center for Internet & Society atHarvard University found thatThe Hill was the second most-shared source among supporters ofDonald Trump on Twitter during the election, behindBreitbart News.[19][20]
In 2017,The Hill hiredJohn Solomon as executive vice president of digital video.[21] Solomon inserted material from advertisers into journalistic copy, leading to protests fromThe Hill's publisher.[22] In March 2018, he worked closely with associates ofRudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump, to promote the spuriousBiden–Ukraine conspiracy theory.[22] In May 2018, Solomon's role was changed to opinion contributor, although he was allowed to keep his original title.[23] In September 2019, he leftThe Hill.[21]
As of 2018[update],The Hill was the second most-viewed U.S. political news website and the third-mosttweeted U.S. news source.[24]
In January 2019,CNN claimed Finkelstein interfered in theeditorial independence of the paper by "keeping a watchful eye on the newspaper's coverage to ensure it is not too critical" of President Trump.[21]
In 2019,The Hill was ranked second among all U.S. news sites for political readership, second to CNN, and ahead of Capitol Hill competitors such asPolitico.[25]
In 2020, it was again ranked second for online politics readership across all news sites, behind only CNN. It remained ahead ofPolitico,Fox News,NBCNews.com andMSNBC.[26]
As of 2020,[update] the newspaper claims to have more than 22,000 print readers.[2]The Hill is distributed for free in newspaper boxes around theU.S. Capitol building, and mailed directly to all congressional offices.
As of 2020,[update]The Hill's YouTube channel had 1,100,000 subscribers, ahead ofPolitico,Axios, andBloomberg Politics. In October 2020,The Hill's YouTube channel averaged over 1.5 million daily video views and more than 10 million per week; in September 2020 it received over 340 million video views.[27]
In 2021,The Hill was acquired byNexstar Media Group for $130 million.[14][28]
In 2022,The Hill was accused of censorship after firingKatie Halper for a segment supportingRashida Tlaib's labeling of Israel as an "apartheid government".[29] In 2024,Briahna Joy Gray was fired after appearing toroll her eyes while discussing theallegations of sexual violence against Israeli hostages during an interview with the sister of an Israeli who was abducted byHamas in the7 October attacks.[30][31]
Between September 2024 and September 2025,The Hill’s overall social media traffic increased by 20 percent, with the newspaper noting increased political engagement and more frequent video posting by its reporters.[32]
In June 2018,The Hill launched Hill.TV, adigital news channel. Four years later, the channel expanded to aFAST streaming service and was rebranded asThe Hill TV.[33] It is distributed by Haystack, LG, Amazon Fire and Prime, Samsung, Roku, and Vizio. Programming includesRising, a morning news program hosted byRobby Soave four days a week (initially byKrystal Ball andBuck Sexton).[34][35] In May 2021, long-time hosts Ball andSaagar Enjeti announced they were departing in order to release their own independent project,Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar.[36]
Since Nexstar's acquisition ofThe Hill, branded programming has appeared on Nexstar's cable news channel,NewsNation. Starting on April 24, 2023,The Hill appears as a weekday afternoon program on NewsNation, moderated byLeland Vittert and with panel discussion featuringChris Stirewalt,George Will,Johanna Maska,Niall Stanage, or other rotating panelists.[37] NewsNation's chief Washington correspondent, Blake Burman, took over moderation duties in August 2023 andMick Mulvaney andSean Spicer joined the list of rotating panelists.[38]The Hill also airs onSiriusXM immediately following its live broadcast.
On March 3, 2024,The Hill Sunday launched. Hosted by Stirewalt, it is aSunday morning talk show focusing on Washington politics.[39] On April 7, 2024, the show was offered toThe CW network stations and localstations owned by Nexstar.[40]
TheNational Press Club's annual Sandy Hume Memorial Award is named after stafferSandy Hume, in recognition of his 1997 reporting inThe Hill of an attempted Republican coup against then-speakerNewt Gingrich.[41]
Climate and energy reporters Sharon Udasin and Rachel Frazin were recognized withSEAL Awards for environmental journalism in 2022 and 2023.[42][43]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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