Ezra Klein leaving Washington Post and Wonkblog

Ezra Klein

Washington Post reporter Ezra Klein, whose newspaper stories and those on his 4-million-plus-views-a-month Wonkblog have been some of the best sources for The Rural Blog on topics such as health care, immigration, gun control and politics, is leaving the paper. The move is reportedly over a dispute with owners over a new project Klein wanted to undertake but that owners shot down, Dylan Byers and Hadas Gold report for Politico.

Klein had "proposed the creation of an independent, explanatory journalism website—with more than three dozen staffers and a multiyear budget north of $10 million." This morning, Wonkblog tweeted the announcement Tuesday that he is leaving, but it looks as though he's taking his idea somewhere else, and that "as early as this week, Klein is expected to announce a new venture—described in a memo to Post staffers as a new 'news organization'—that will look to staff more than 30 people on the editorial side alone," Politico reports. We will be watching. (Read more)