Howey Politics Indiana, the political news website of veteran Hoosier journalist Brian Howey, has been sold to New York City-based State Affairs LLC, a subscription digital media startup looking to fill gaps in the coverage of state reports across the country.
Howey, who announced the sale last month in a letter to his subscribers, said joining forces with a company passionate about quality journalism will eventually allow him to appoint a successor, ensuring the publication will live on without him.
Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
“As my career ends, I wondered about my legacy: would HPI continue, who would run it, and where would Indiana be if it just disappeared,” Howey, 66, told IBJ. “I am convinced that State Affairs offers the best legacy platform for me.”
State Affairs was launched in 2020 by Evan Burns, a Jasper, Indiana native who founded the Olympia Media Group, which publishes The Odyssey, a collaborative publishing platform, while a student at Indiana University, and Jamie Seltzer, a venture capitalist. and co. -Owner of the Philadelphia Union, a Major League Soccer team. State Affairs has a local
“Our mission is to provide weekly commentary and investigative reporting that holds state governments accountable and to tell those stories through the lens of readers,” said Alison Bethel, editor-in-chief of State Affairs. “Our goal is to inform and empower communities and the people who live in them through truthful, well-informed, nonpartisan investigative coverage.”
Launched in 1994 as a weekly print publication, Howey Politics Indiana will relocate to the State Affairs website and add another full-time journalist and intern to its staff.
Howey’s syndicated newspaper column will continue to appear in more than 30 newspapers and television station websites across the state.
The acquisition comes three months after States Newsroom, a Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based nonprofit news organization with a similar mission, launched the Indiana Capital Chronicle, a free online publication featuring three reporters covering the state government. The company announced plans last year to expand its presence to 40 states.
