Bleacher Report will expand its Lead Writer program, hiring as many as 20 new writers over the next six months. The open-source sports journalism hub began the program last August, hiring five paid contributors to lead its content and direction including former WashingtonPost.com and SportingNews.com writer Dan Levy. The latest move marks a significant deepening of the original plan to recruit full-time, paid writers. Negotiations have begun with a handful of undisclosed writers, said Bleacher Report CEO Brian Grey. "We're putting a lot of faith in the Lead Writer program," Grey said. "We're making an additional investment in the kind of content experience we want to deliver. We're going to be able to get a little more specialized and go deeper into the various leagues and conferences." With about 100 employees currently working for Bleacher Report across all departments, the editorial initiative will also represent a major employee expansion for the company at large. "We're going for it. We want to play big, and these are the kinds of moves we need to make," Grey said.
