I've dropped a few hints here and there about a new project that I have been working on but now I can finally put it all on the table.

Starting November 10th, I will be working with the Washington Examiner to help take its web site to the next level through a managing editor position within the paper.

I will still be continuing my efforts here at NB, however. To help ensure NB readers get the hard-hitting media watchdog you've become used to, we will soon be adding an additional member to the staff. More on that in a few days.

The official press release is below the fold.

The Washington Examiner announced today that Internet blogging pioneer Matthew Sheffield will be taking the helm of its dcexaminer.com Web site.

"Blogging has now gone mainstream," said Stephen G. Smith, the Examiner's executive editor. "If you want to get into the Web game in a serious way, you need to find someone who's grown up with interactive media. Matt has been a Web innovator since he was in college."

Sheffield, 30, was a student when he founded one of the first political blogs, RatherBiased.com, in 2000.
 
The site attracted widespread attention during the 2004 presidential campaign when it played a major role in exposing phony documents shown on CBS's 60 Minutes. Dan Rather used the documents to raise questions about George W. Bush's service in Air National Guard.

"Some may see a certain amount of irony in the fact that someone who is a veteran press critic is teaming up with the dreaded 'mainstream' media, but that is really an outdated concept," Sheffield said. "In reality, the raw power of the blogosphere and the tremendous resources of a traditional news organization complement each other extremely well."

Sheffield's most notable Web venture is the blog NewsBusters.org. Created for the Media Research Center in 2005, it is one of the top-ten independent political web sites, attracting 1.7 million unique visitors in September 2008.

Sheffield, a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, is also founder and president of Dialog New Media, a consulting firm specializing in helping companies, non-profits, and campaigns use the Internet.

At dcexaminer.com, Sheffield will work with the Examiner's print staff and a new team of full-time Web editors and blog contributors.

The Washington Examiner is a free newspaper with an average daily circulation of 160,000. It is owned by Clarity Media, headquartered in Denver, which also publishes the San Francisco Examiner and Baltimore Examiner.

For more information, please call Hayley McConnell at (703)739-5920.

—Matthew Sheffield is the creator of NewsBusters and its Executive Editor.