{{Short description|American news and culture website}}
Category:American news websites Category:Mass media in Washington, D.C.
{{italic title}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = DCist | motto = The District's (unofficial) homepage. | logo = | owners = WAMU/American University | founder = Rob Goodspeed, Mike Grass | founded = {{Start date and age|2004}} | ceased_publication = 2017; 2024 | publishing_city = Washington, D.C. | publishing_country = United States | website = {{URL|https://dcist.com/}} | free = {{URL|https://www.dclibrary.org/research-and-learn/dcist-archive}} }}
'''DCist''' was a local news website that focused on the District of Columbia. The site began as a volunteer-run blog focused on Washington, D.C., in the same family of "-ist" websites as Gothamist, LAist, and Chicagoist.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chung |first1=Jen |title=Beltway Gets -isted: Welcome, DCist |url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/beltway-gets-isted-welcome-dcist |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=Gothamist |date=23 August 2004}}</ref> A professional editor began steering the publication in 2007 as it became a go-to news source.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mathis |first1=Sommer |title=DCist Goes Pro |url=https://dcist.com/story/07/05/07/dcist-goes-pro/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=DCist |date=7 May 2007}}</ref>
The staff grew to three people<ref>{{cite news |last1=Austermuhle |first1=Martin |title=What The Loss Of DCist Means For D.C.: A Former Editor's View |url=https://wamu.org/story/17/11/03/loss-dcist-means-d-c-former-editors-view/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=WAMU |date=3 Nov 2017}}</ref> by the time billionaire Joe Ricketts purchased the company in early 2017. Several months later, Ricketts shut all of the websites down after newsroom staff in New York voted to unionize.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Newman |first1=Leland |title=DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shut Down After Vote to Unionize |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/nyregion/dnainfo-gothamist-shutting-down.html |access-date=18 March 2025 |work=New York Times |date=2 Nov 2017}}</ref>
D.C. public radio station WAMU joined KPCC (FM) in and WNYC to purchase several of the respective sites from Ricketts in a bid to expand the radio stations' digital audiences.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Falk |first1=Tyler |title=Three public radio stations acquire Gothamist sites |url=https://current.org/2018/10/absorbed-by-public-radio-gothamist-sites-boost-stations-local-news/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=Current |date=23 Feb 2018}}</ref> DCist relaunched in 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nnamdi |first1=Kojo |title=The Relaunch Of DCist–And What It Means For The Local Media Landscape |url=https://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2018-06-14/now-that-dcist-is-back-how-is-the-rest-of-local-media-doing/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=WAMU |date=14 June 2018}}</ref>
After operating as separate teams for two years, WAMU's local newsroom and DCist began collaborating<ref>{{cite news |last1=Around WAMU |title=Interim Leadership Changes at WAMU and DCist |url=https://wamu.org/around-wamu/interim-leadership-changes-at-wamu-and-dcist/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=WAMU |date=22 July 2020}}</ref> as a single team during the COVID-19 pandemic and announced a multiyear plan to reshape its news division and provide more in-depth coverage of the Washington metropolitan area.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Around WAMU |title=WAMU To Expand Local News Coverage As Part Of Plan To Strengthen Commitment To Washington, D.C. Region |url=https://wamu.org/around-wamu/wamu-to-expand-local-news-coverage-as-part-of-plan-to-strengthen-commitment-to-washington-d-c-region/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=WAMU |date=30 March 2021}}</ref>
However, within three years the public radio station divested from local news by eliminating 16 positions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ryals |first1=Mitch |title=Did WAMU Actually Lay Off 16 Staffers, Rather Than 15? |url=https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/683558/did-wamu-actually-lay-off-16-staffers-rather-than-15/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=Washington City Paper |date=12 March 2024}}</ref> Following the layoffs, several former DCist workers created a new digital news outlet, The 51st.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Izadi |first1=Elahe |title=Former DCist staff launch the 51st, new local news site for Washington |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/07/16/51st-local-news-dcist-wamu/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=16 July 2024}}</ref>
The day that DCist stopped publishing, WAMU implemented a pop-up message that redirected visitors away from the DCist website, effectively preventing access to its 20-year archive.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beaujon |first1=Andrew |title=Why Did WAMU Close DCist? |url=https://washingtonian.com/2024/04/19/why-did-wamu-close-dcist/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=Washingtonian |date=19 April 2024}}</ref> After significant public pressure, WAMU removed the redirect and allowed access to the DCist archives,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kauffman |first1=Kelly |title=For the Record: The battle to preserve the online archives of now-shuttered newsrooms |url=https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2024/mar/06/for-the-record-the-battle-to-preserve-the-online-archives-of-now-shuttered-newsrooms/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=MuckRock |date=6 March 2024}}</ref> promising they would remain available for at least one year.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vigliotti |first1=Andie |title=DCist archives available to public after WAMU shutters local news outlet |url=https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/washington-dc/dcist-archives-available-to-public-after-wamu-shutters-local-news-outlet/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=DC News Now |date=28 Feb 2024}}</ref> After one year, DCist.com was still hosted by WAMU and no plan had been announced for its permanent archive. But Washington City Paper media columnist Vince Morris posted on social media<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morris |first1=Vince |title=Scoop!|url=https://x.com/VincentMorris/status/1887878314708078834 |website=X |access-date=18 March 2025}}</ref> that District of Columbia Public Library is in the process of acquiring rights to the site from American University. In the meantime, the library has created a page for the site archives to help readers access Wayback Machine copies of articles of every DCist article.<ref>{{cite web |title=DCist Archive |url=https://x.com/VincentMorris/status/1887878314708078834 |publisher=District of Columbia Public Library}}</ref>
== References ==
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