The arms race for Capitol-area sports coverage continues in the aftermath of the Washington Post‘s decision to axe its sports desk, with NOTUS announcing the hire of four prominent sports journalists from the area this week.
NOTUS, which launched in 2024 as an arm of the nonprofit Allbritton Journalism Institute and is set to expand and rebrand as The Star this summer, is leaning further into sports coverage by bringing on former ESPN and Andscape feature writer Martenzie Johnson as well as former WaPo staffers Dave Sheinin, Jesse Dougherty and Michael Errigo.
Dougherty wrote on X that he expects to cover the Washington Nationals as well as issues where sports and politics overlap.
“When it comes to the sports section, everything is new at The Star, so I’m going to be throwing a lot at the wall, weighing reader feedback, seeing what sticks,” said Dougherty in a post on his Substack. “But in all my conversations with the company’s leadership, it’s clear the guiding light is in-depth stories built on dogged reporting and creative storytelling.”
Sheinin reported broad feature stories at the Post, while Errigo wrote and edited on the paper’s high school beat. Johnson wrote features and profiles for ESPN and Andscape.
The Star is announcing several additions to its sports staff, which will be providing fans with engaging and in-depth coverage of their favorite teams.
Whether you’re looking to learn more about the Nationals’ resurgence, the Mystics’ young core or the Wizards’ plans for the No.… pic.twitter.com/2kNplHxCyJ
— The Star Metro (@thestarmetro) June 2, 2026
The Post laid off the majority of its sports section in February. The paper’s loss was in some ways the industry’s gain. Many were hired by The Athletic and ESPN, while others jumped to The Baltimore Banner, another nonprofit outlet that also expanded its coverage of both news and sports into Washington, D.C.
Amusingly, the Post almost immediately explored rehiring or replacing some of its former staff, including on the Nationals/MLB and Capitols/NHL beats. The paper also recently posted a national sports reporter position to replace some of the laid-off staff.
With the latest NOTUS hires, the D.C. area now has a ton of players covering local sports, delivering news and scrutinizing teams in one of the country’s biggest and most influential markets.
NOTUS, which stands for News of the United States, was set to rebrand to The Star this week after a significant expansion throughout the early part of the year, but a judge reportedly granted The Washington Star, a rival publication, a temporary restraining order as part of its trademark lawsuit against NOTUS.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.