Slate Political Writer Dave Weigel Heading To Bloomberg

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Bloomberg Politics continued to demonstrate its lofty ambitions on Tuesday with the announcement that it had poached political writer Dave Weigel from Slate.

The Huffington Post’s Michael Calderone reported on the hire, which was announced in a staff memo circulated by Bloomberg editor Josh Tyrangiel:

“Driven by his own curiosity, he eschews the pack to write and report some of the smartest pieces about how real people perceive their politicians,” Tyrangiel said.

“He loves the far right and the far left–in part for their commitment to their beliefs and in part because there are such great stories there,” Tyrangiel continued. “Dave also radiates a passion for writing that manifests itself in more than just a freakishly intimidating number of bylines. The man knows how to twirl a word and turn a phrase. (Oh, he podcasts, too. His WeigelCast at Slate is a must-listen and we’ll be exploring ways he may pick that up for Bloomberg Politics.)”

Bloomberg Politics, which is set to launch early next month, will be headed up by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, the co-authors of the best-selling chronicles of the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, “Game Change” and “Double Down.”

Weigel, who’s also an MSNBC contributor, joined Slate in 2010 after a controversy surrounding his participation in a popular listserv with other journalists led to his resignation from the Washington Post.

He will join Bloomberg Politics on Sept. 22.

News of Weigel’s hire made an immediate splash on Twitter, where he’s built a considerable following.

It marks the second significant departure for Slate this summer, following the resignation of editor-in-chief David Plotz in July.

Weigel is currently working on a book documenting the history of progressive rock, a subject he tackled in a series of posts for Slate in 2012.

Shortly after the news broke, Weigel published a post on Slate explaining his reasoning behind the decision.

“This is still my favorite magazine and I’m only leaving it because Bloomberg’s putting together — I will try to avoid corporate-speak — an ambitious political magazine run by the sort of geniuses who made Bloomberg Businessweek into a great print mag, and New York’s political coverage a daily most-read,” he wrote.

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