Ben Max Appointed New Executive Editor of GothamGazette.com
Originally Published: March 4, 2014
Citizens Union Foundation hires decidenyc.com founder to lead its pioneering watchdog journalism publication
NEW YORK – Citizens Union Foundation today announced that Ben Max is the new executive editor of Gotham Gazette, its 15 year-old online publication devoted to public interest journalism. Max will focus on strengthening Gotham Gazette’s heralded investigative and explanatory journalism and expand its admired election coverage and political data aggregation.
After making amajor impact on the New York City political media scene with his innovative coverage of the 2013 city election cycle via Decide NYC, Max will strengthen Gotham Gazette’s trademark reporting while launching new features and a continued re-imagination of the website. Max will bring to the Gazette the early 2014 election information and several other key pieces of content from Decide NYC, which will remain live as an archive of the 2013 election cycle. Several members of Max’s team will also contribute their talents to growing the scope and depth of information available at Gotham Gazette.
With Max as Executive Editor, Gotham Gazette will continue to provide its pioneering and acclaimed daily morning e-newsletter – the Eye-Opener – and its deep-dive investigative reporting. Gotham Gazette will also expand its coverage of the 2014 election cycle and further cement its place as a trusted source of explanatory pieces on how government and policy are working in New York.
Dick Dadey, Executive Director of Citizens Union Foundation, which publishes Gotham Gazette, said, “We are thrilled to have Ben Max join our team and bring his entrepreneurial approach, ubiquitous presence, and keen sense of what information New Yorkers are interested in having to the Gazette. Ben’s leadership and vision are exactly what we need to take Gotham Gazette and our unique style of journalism to a new place in the city’s civic fabric.”
“Gotham Gazette has a rich history and continues to publish important work,” Max said. “I am incredibly honored and excited to lead the publication into a new phase, during which we will build upon what has made Gotham Gazette a trusted and valuable source of reporting and launch new efforts to provide helpful resources to engage the public,” Max continued. “I look forward to working with and building the Gotham Gazette team.”
Max joins Gotham Gazette veterans David King and William Rice, who serve as the publication’s State Government Editor and Technical Manager, respectively.
Max can be reached at bmax@gothamgazette.com and is still available and active on Twitter via @TweetBenMax.
About Gotham Gazette and Citizens Union Foundation
Gotham Gazette is a New York City-based independent online watchdog publication that covers city and state government, elections, environment, education, public safety, health, transportation and housing. Gotham Gazette is an independent publication of Citizens Union Foundation.
More information about Gotham Gazette’s unique history and brand of journalism can be found at GothamGazette.com. More information about Citizens Union Foundation and its history, mission, and publications can be found at its site here.
About Ben Max
Born in Manhattan and raised in Queens, Ben Max’s route to Gotham Gazette includes ten years working in education as a special education aide, high school teacher, curriculum writer, professional development course designer and facilitator, and other roles. Max attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT, majoring in political science and went on to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University. Max taught high school history for six years before returning to New York in 2012 and launching DecideNYC.com in early 2013.
Max has written for Decide NYC and been published by the New York Daily News, the Huffington Post, and The New York World and has appeared on The Brian Lehrer Show, NY1’s Road to City Hall and Inside City Hall, Eyewitness News Up Close with Diana Williams, the WPIX morning news, and other city radio and television programs to discuss city politics.
