AOL hires veteran journalists for political website launching next month

With its plans to launch a new political website in April, AOL is moving into the business of delivering original news content, according to this story in The Wrap. Top editor is Melinda Henneberger, a veteran of the New York Times, Newsweek and Slate; writers include Carl Cannon of National Journal, USA Today columnist Walter Shapiro, and Patricia Murphy, creator of citizenjanepolitics.com. AOL is calculating that the "glut" of experienced journalists looking for work has created a new opportunity "to create a New York Times-like empire on the Internet--one that is native to the web and knows how to use its strengths and quirks," The Wrap reports.