• by Melynda Fuller , May 25, 2018

Route Fifty, the political business-to-business digital news publication from Atlantic Media’s Government Executive Media Group, is expanding its staff in the wake of increased subscriptions and website traffic.

This week, the publication announced Laura Maggi would become its new managing editor. Maggi, a veteran journalist of state and local news, will oversee Route Fifty’s state, county and city government news coverage.

Most recently, Maggi served as the metro editor at The Advocate out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she covered breaking news, including the shooting of Alton Sterling by the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Maggi has also covered health care, criminal justice, state politics and government at The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. She was the deputy editor of The New Orleans Advocate.

Senior editor and director of strategic initiatives Mitch Herckis will expand his role as senior editor and director of strategic initiatives as he begins to contribute analysis. He will also work closely with Route Fifty’s editorial team.

These moves come as Route Fifty has seen its subscription numbers increase by 60% over the past year and web traffic increase by 11% since the beginning of 2018.

Route Fifty launched as www.govexec.com’s State and Local channel in July 2014. It became a standalone Government Executive Media Group digital publication in April 2015.