City & State Welcomes A New Managing Editor and Two New Reporters

City & State has promoted its multimedia director, Michael Johnson, previously the executive producer of YNN's Capital Tonight, to become its new managing editor, and hired two new reporters to bolster its coverage of policy, industry and New York City politics.

With Johnson, the co-creator of City & State’s Last Look video series that has expanded into City & State TV, taking the reins as managing editor C&S is embracing a holistic, forward-thinking and cutting-edge approach to newsgathering and presentation.

“Michael Johnson has a profound grasp of the current media environment, an intuitive feel for its future, and the technical know-how to captain the newsroom as we embrace a 21^st Century model of journalistic excellence,” said Andrew Holt, City & State’s publisher. “Over the year that Michael has been a part of our team, we have all benefited from his strength as a manager and his deep knowledge of Albany politics. I am excited to see what he will bring to his new role.”

"Journalism in the 21st Century is rapidly changing with the growing influence of social media and people consuming news on multiple platforms,” said Johnson. “I am looking forward to the challenge of shaping City & State into a truly modern, multi-platform, state-of-the-art newsroom.”

Along with Johnson’s promotion, City & State is expanding its award-winning editorial team that just last week picked up four more New York Press Association awards. Wilder Fleming joins City & State as policy reporter, a newly created position that will grow the publication’s coverage of policy and industry issues, including healthcare, labor, energy, infrastructure and education. Fleming comes to City & State on the heels of completing a fellowship at the New York World, and an investigative journalism project at Columbia University. In addition to bolstering City & State’s policy and industry coverage, he will become the point person on C&S’s popular afternoon daily email, Last Read.

Also joining City & State's editorial team is Azure Gilman, who worked previously as a research assistant to legendary investigative journalist Wayne Barrett. Gilman, a graduate of the University of Chicago and past contributor to the Freakonomics blog, will report to C&S’s City Hall Bureau Chief Nick Powell, and focus on covering both New York City politics and City-centric policy and industry stories.

“Azure and Wilder are two terrific young reporters, who have already proven their value to City & State by contributing many insightful articles to both our magazine and cityandstateny.com,” said Morgan Pehme, City & State’s editor-in-chief. “With the steady, thoughtful guidance of my new top deputy, Michael Johnson, I am certain that Wilder and Azure will continue to thrive and turn out the high level investigative and analytical pieces that our readers and viewers have come to expect from City & State.”

“The City & State team is growing rapidly and innovating on a number of different fronts, ” said Tom Allon, president and co-owner of City & State. “Last Read and City & State TV have quickly become part of the political world’s daily routine, just like First Read before them. Our twice-monthly events are attracting loyal audiences and presenting serious public policy topics—and now they’re live streamed as well. Stay tuned for more expansion announcements in the coming weeks as City & State and its award-winning team of journalists continue to publish hard-hitting investigative pieces while also covering important but underreported industries in the political world.”