Israel Matzav

Jennifer Rubin moving to WaPo

I'm a little late posting this one. The Washington Post announced on Monday that Jennifer Rubin will be joining its staff next month to write a conservative blog.

The Post has hired Jennifer Rubin, previously with Commentary magazine, to launch a new blog next month that "will provide critical news coverage and commentary, with an exacting eye on conservative policy-making and Republican campaigns, pundits and politicians," according to a memo obtained by The Cutline.

David Weigel wrote a blog on the conservative movement until June, when private emails surfaced in which he was harshly critical of some leaders on the right. He resigned over the flap.

But Weigel, now at Slate, didn't write his blog from a conservative perspective as Rubin is expected to do--even if some readers, and Post managers, thought he would be doing so. Another difference: Weigel was on the national staff, whereas Rubin and Sargent fall on the opinion side of the paper.

The Post has chosen wisely. Jennifer is a true, unadulterated conservative, who (it almost goes without saying) is quite strongly pro-Israel. Politico's Ben Smith calls her "one of the hardest-line conservative hawks around on national security issues in general and Israel in particular."

Perhaps the nicest tribute Jennifer received was from her current boss, John Podhoretz, at Commentary's Contentions blog, where she has blogged for the last three years.

For the past three years, Jennifer Rubin has set this blog and this website afire with her breadth of knowledge, her love of the intricacies of politics, her passion for ideas and policy, and her commitment to principle. The living embodiment of the word “indefatigable,” Jen has labored daily from her home in suburban Virginia, writing early in the morning and late at night, on computer and Blackberry, all the while getting her two boys to school and back, and to Hebrew school and back, never missing a news story, never missing an op-ed column, reading everything and digesting everything and commenting on everything. She is a phenomenon, especially considering that for the first two decades of her working life, she was not a writer or a journalist but a lawyer specializing in labor issues who worked for Hollywood studios primarily.

Wow.

From my own perspective, I can tell you that Jennifer answers all her emails (except for when I just sent her links), and has always been gracious with advice and encouragement.

I'm looking forward to reading her new blog, and I'm sure you are too.

Labels: blogosphere, Commentary, Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:16 PM