Editor and Journalist Mahtesian to Receive Mirror’s 2012 Award of Excellence

After college, he began to work at the Congressional Quarterly, clipping stories from 125 daily American newspapers, then covering elections and redistricting, as well as con- tributing to the books, Politics in America and Congressional Districts in the 1990s. He then became a national correspondent for Governing magazine, traveling all over the US and writing about state legislatures, governors and urban politics for eight years.

It was in this period that he had a type of early, not mid-life, crisis that led him to rethink his career path. He said, “It seemed that the most interesting people that I was interviewing had their law degrees, even if they were not practicing. I was frustrated with the reactive nature of journalism but thought that with a law degree I could be more proactive in the future, no matter what job I held.” He decided to earn a law degree in the evenings at American University’s Washington College of Law while continuing to work full-time. After graduating, he worked briefly for a small firm but realized that he missed journalism and went back with new analytical skills and perspectives.

He went from Governing magazine to work for five years editing three volumes of the National Journal’s venerable biennial, the Almanac of American Politics. Yet despite all his accomplishments, Mahtesian said, “I began to be frustrated with the limitations of print media. I felt that the speed, the pace and the sophistication of political operatives had bypassed the ability of traditional publications to cover them. As journalists, we were wedded to a lot of outmoded ideas. It was an industry ripe for disruption.”

This led to his move to Politico, based in Arlington, Va., in 2008. Politico disseminates its journalistic products not only in a newspaper which it owns, but through other media such as television, radio and the Internet. Politico itself is owned by a larger corporation, Allbritton Communications. Mahtesian said that the advantages of Politico, compared to traditional newspapers, include “the speed at which we can operate and move, and the voice that we can use (not just blogs but story forms — you don’t have to seem to write in the austere voice of God that we were taught to write in as young journalists).” Furthermore, it was a publication or outlet that was not for a broader audience but specifically for people who are extremely interested in politics, though good stories would reach broader audiences too. Mahtesian added that for at least for him, “to be able to write for an audience like that, and to be able to write with some edge, to be able to write for a very ambitious publication was a great opportunity.” Mahtesian’s commentary is also in demand by National Public Radio, MSNBC, Fox News, C-Span, CNN and the BBC.

It is exciting to be on the cutting edge of changes in the industry, experimenting on how to make the Internet work and so far, Politico seems to be succeeding economically. Having just started his Politico blog, titled “Charlie Mahtesian on the American Political Landscape,” Mahtesian says “I’m still trying to find my voice as a blogger while continuing to oversee national political coverage.” Like most journalists, he would love to write a book some- day, but for now outside of his daily work, his priority is his family and two young children.

He wants his children to understand who they are and the values he wishes to impart to them. He said, “In many ways, I explain to them the Armenian experience and the lessons hand- ed down to me, the things my grandfather and father told me. I tell them and hope these things sink in.” Mahtesian finds that “the uniqueness of the Armenian experience is important — the ability of the Armenian to endure over time was part of the Armenian DNA. There is something about the Armenian character that makes us different.”