WASHINGTON -- The Washington Post and NEWSCHANNEL 8, the Washington region's 24-hour cable news channel, today announced an alliance that will bring the depth and background of The Post's reporting staff to NEWSCHANNEL 8's local news and information format.

Starting in mid-October, Post reporters and editors will appear on NEWSCHANNEL 8 via a new, state-of-the-art video camera facility in The Washington Post newsroom. This will be the first time The Post has opened its newsroom to regular television reporting. The interviews from The Post newsroom will feature Metro reporters covering local news stories, as well as The Post's team of columnists and feature writers from Style, Sports, Business, Food, Health, Weekend, and other sections.

"Our news viewers in the Washington area will benefit greatly from the breadth of knowledge and insight that Washington Post reporters will bring to our 24-hour coverage of breaking news as well as our daily information programming on a wide variety of subjects of interest to the Washington community," said John D. Hillis, president and chief executive officer of NEWSCHANNEL 8. "In turn, The Post will extend its world-renowned excellence into a new video arena. As excited as we are about where we are beginning, we're more excited about how this alliance will evolve to serve our viewers even better."

"We look forward to working with NEWSCHANNEL 8 because it shares our commitment to covering local news quickly and accurately, without sensationalism," said Leonard Downie, Jr., executive editor of The Washington Post. "We hope to showcase The Post's powerful local reporting through this alliance and share it with a wider audience."

"The alliance that begins with video news has the potential to grow into other activities," said Robert Allbritton, chief operating officer of the Allbritton Television Group, which includes NEWSCHANNEL 8. "As our newsrooms grow more familiar with each other and learn what works and what doesn't, we will explore opportunities to grow this alliance."

"This new venture reaffirms our commitment to be Washington's primary source for news and information using every medium -- television, on-line, and in print," said Alan Spoon, president and chief operating officer of The Washington Post Company. "As we've learned from our cable systems around the country, cable is an increasingly important venue for local news."

Contacts:

The Washington Post
Tina Gulland
(202) 334-6793

NEWSCHANNEL 8
Wayne Lynch
703/912-5434