MUMBAI: Taking a leaf from its success in sports coverage, internet major Yahoo! has hired nearly a dozen journalists and opened a bureau in Washington as it plans to ramp up its original news content to further popularise its online news site.
 
The journalists joining Yahoo! News include prominent reporters and editors from Politico, ABC, Washingtonpost.com, TalkingPointsMemo.com Observer and other publications.

Journalists will create original articles and videos on topics like politics and media. The coverage would complement news articles that Yahoo! licenses from other media organisations and brings together on its site.
 
The move reflects a successful push by Yahoo! into original sports coverage about three years ago, when it hired sports journalists and also acquired Rivals.com, a network of sports blogs.
“My hopes are to continue build out voice for our media properties and to replicate the success we have had in Yahoo Sports,” said Yahoo! Media Head James Pitaro in a statement.

Yahoo!’s media properties like news, finance and sports are highly popular. In February, Yahoo! News had recorded over 43 million visitors, more than that of other news sites.

For the last several years, the internet company has been seen struggling under stiff competition from Google and a weakening advertising market.