As President Trump and Elon Musk remake the federal government through firings, orders and brute force, small news publishers that specialize in the federal workforce are landing big scoops and seeing equally big traffic gains.
The Federal News Network — which markets itself as a nonpartisan destination for federal managers — has seen traffic five to six times greater than a normal week in 2024, deputy editor Jared Serbu told CNN.
“We know people are interested, and they’re coming back time and again, asking for more information — which changes our approach a little bit,” executive editor Jason Miller added.
The same is true at Government Executive, one of five publications for federal employees and contractors owned by GovExec. Others include NextGov/FCW, Defense One, Washington Technology, and Route Fifty.
While bigger, more public-facing news outlets in Washington focus on covering the White House, Congress, and Supreme Court, these trade-oriented outlets pay attention to the daily changes at agencies and how employees are affected. And that means they’re uniquely well-sourced for this stressful moment.
Since November, Government Executive — comprised of three reporters and two editors — has seen “a phenomenal increase in traffic,” executive editor Tanya Ballard Brown said.
Story after story on her website – from “Agencies ramp up pressure on their workers to quit” to “Unions sue Treasury over DOGE access to payment systems” – convey the current uncertainty inside federal agencies.
Government Executive has focused on its core strengths, Ballard Brown said, because “if not, then why would people come to us and not the Post?”
“We are covering labor relations, covering Office of Personnel Management … we’re covering the Office of Management and Budget, and the changes that happen there, we’re doing that every day versus every now and again,” she said. “That is, I think, what gives us the edge here.”
Over the past few weeks, Government Executive has published a litany of in-depth stories that provide insight into the minutiae of otherwise obscure changes. Through its deep sourcing, the outlet has shed light on Musk’s and Musk allies’ visits to the GSA, as well as their growing influence; how recently hired federal staffers are being asked to legitimize their jobs in the face of downsizing; and the specific exemptions to Trump’s hiring freeze that have so far manifested.
Like Government Executive, FNN has produced scoops on OMG and OPM. As part of the White House’s mandate to cut costs, the federal government has taken aim at the Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration, where staffers, many of who have been in their roles for decades, are now at risk of being cut. Thanks to its focus on both departments, FNN was able to scoop mainstream outlets, providing well-sourced stories even when the departments did not officially respond for comment.
Reporters who know the difference between OMB and OPM and can distinguish between a “buyout” and a “deferred resignation” are in demand as Trump appointees upend agencies.
GovExec’s five sites overall have seen “more web traffic in the last two weeks than ever before, even including the first week of the Covid shutdown, so readers across our five publications have never been (at least for us) this engaged in the news,” editor in chief Frank Konkel said.
Some longtime sources may be forced out of work by the impending changes. But others are coming “out of the woodwork” for the first time, Miller said. “It just happened this morning: That person, I’ve met them, we’ve talked on occasion, but they were not a ‘source,’ and now they’re like, ‘this is so concerning to me, I will now [be] willing to be a source.’”
The publications are also cognizant of the fact that, much like their larger peers, they simply can’t cover everything.
“You just have to remember that the goal is to wear us down — so don’t get worn down,” Ballard Brown said.
CNN’s Brian Stelter contributed to this report
