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Incoming CEO of David Brock’s progressive media venture backs out

David Sirota, the International Business Times investigations editor who was slated to lead Democratic political operative David Brock’s True Blue Media venture, is backing out of the job.

“As you know, I was thrilled to initially accept the proposal to work with True Blue Media because I believe in nonpartisan accountability journalism,” Sirota wrote in an emailed statement Tuesday. “However, the circumstances of the job subsequently changed. True Blue Media does not right now have in hand the resources for the kind of independent, nonpartisan journalism I want to continue to do and that is needed to execute on the ambitious editorial strategy that we agreed on. Therefore, I have decided to turn down the job. I wish David Brock all the best.”

Sirota is expected to remain with the International Business Times.

Sirota had announced he was joining True Blue Media as chief executive officer on January 20. The hire was seen as a sign that the site, which Brock once described as a “Breitbart of the left,” might pivot from highly politicized stories intended to go viral on social media toward a model focused on independent investigations.

At the time of his hire, Brock said that Sirota would bring “substantive, incisive, fearless reporting” to the site, which had pushed stories supportive of Hillary Clinton during the presidential election.

"Shareblue is on an ambitious growth trajectory," said Brock in a statement. "Since the election and our January donor conference, we have seen an uptick in funding and investors and look forward to announcing new senior staff and editorial positions soon. I wish David Sirota well in his future endeavors."