The Lobby: a new home for business and politics

The Lobby, a new Web site focusing exclusively on New Hampshire business and politics, has been launched as a partnership of the New Hampshire Business Review and the Nashua Telegraph.The site (thelobbynh.com) draws on the expertise of veteran reporters and contributors – including NHBR’s Jeff Feingold and Bob Sanders and The Telegraph’s Kevin Landrigan and Ashley Smith – to provide in-depth, lively news coverage and analysis.”The concept behind The Lobby was to bring additional focus and edge to state political and business coverage – two issues that have significant and unique audiences,” said Terry Williams, president and publisher of The Telegraph. “New Hampshire, because of its size and access, offers closer-than-usual relationships between politics and commerce. Legislative and business decisions don’t necessarily track along partisan lines. Understanding these relationships, understanding how decisions get made requires experience, connections and knowing where to look and to whom to talk.”Further, Williams said, The Lobby will present this information in a lively, spirited way that will differ from traditional news coverage.”It’s important stuff, to be sure,” Williams said. “But our approach will be anything but dull. We’ll be full of surprises.”The Lobby will be a must-read, especially for political junkies, business owners and executives, legislators, lobbyists, public-relations firms and the like.The site will be edgier than either of the current publications, and more predictive in nature. Rather than just writing about a controversial bill making its way through the State House, it will predict how it will pan out or tell readers whom to call in order to get it killed.In addition to the lead writers, The Lobby will have a network of regular contributors that includes some of the state’s best-known politicos, such as former Washington reporter and author Jack McEnany, longtime political reporter and former Boston Globe writer John Milne, former state Sens. Jim Splaine and Bob Clegg, and political public relations expert Jayne Marcucci Millerick.The site will be updated daily with news stories, features, photos and multimedia. In addition, there will be five regular features – one for each day of the week, Monday through Friday. They are:• The Landrigan Report: The Telegraph’s veteran State House reporter, Kevin Landrigan, analyzes the political headlines and makes his Statehouse predictions for the week.• Mr. Snitch: The elusive Mr. Snitch dishes on what’s really going on behind the scenes in Concord and beyond. Readers can learn about the deeds lawmakers and business leaders would much rather keep under wraps.• Bob’s Bulls and Bears: NHBR veteran business reporter Bob Sanders will tell readers which companies to watch this week.• Power Plays: Hot topics in Concord, and why they matter to business.• Whiplash: Rating each week’s headline-makers based on their performance and behavior. Which politicians or lobbyists scored big wins? Who didn’t quite make the grade?The Lobby is a subscription-based site – a first for The Telegraph and NHBR. The cost is $199 a year, with discounts available for multiple subscribers. The site, thelobbynh.com, is free for the first two weeks.