After serving at The Washington Post for nearly 30 years, national political correspondent Lois Romano is leaving the newspaper to work for Tina Brown’s Newsbeast, a news and opinion website.
As reported by Politico, Romano came to the Post in 1981 after the Washington Star shut down. At both publications, Romano worked with journalist Howard Kurtz, who responded to the news of her Newsbeast position by email: “I’ve known Lois for 30 years, like everyone else who’s been around Washington… We briefly overlapped at the Star, I diligently sent her items when she launched the ‘Reliable Source’ column, we’ve collaborated on stories and I was her editor for awhile when she was working in Oklahoma. Lois is quite simply one of the most versatile journalists around.”
Romano wrote for the Post‘s Style section until 1995. Through these experiences she mastered the art of writing political profiles and covering the Washington scene, and she came up with a Washington gossip and personality column, “The Reliable Source.”
Aside from starting “The Reliable Source”, Romano reported on the Oklahoma City bombing trials, national politics, and presidential campaigns.
“She is a smart, fierce reporter known for her skill at getting people to open up to her, ” National Editor Kevin Merida wrote in an email to Politico. “We will miss her greatly but wish her success.”
Newsbeast, formerly known as The Daily Beast, merged with Newsweek earlier this year and changed names to honor the collaboration.