Meet the Influencers: Kim Hart, The Washington Post

This installment of our Influencer Q&A series features an interview with Kim Hart. Since I've been with SpeakerBox, Kim Hart is the first name that comes to mind when thinking of The Washington Post. She has covered Web 2.0, telecom, start-ups, Silicon Valley, local business, and as of today brought back The Download. Below Kim shares her perspective on The Download, the local tech scene and how social media is effecting the way we get our news.

- Ali Smith

1. For those of us that weren’t in tech when The Download was around before, can you tell us a little bit about it?

The Download was started in 1998 at a time when high-tech start-ups and eager venture capitalists were taking the region by storm. The column featured juicy gossip, details of deals and profiles of movers and shakers. Clearly, times have changed since then, but I hope the column can reveal some of the flavor of the local tech scene in a similar way.

2. Since The Download will be returning, can you tell us what you find most interesting about the local tech scene currently and what you see for DC tech in the next few years?

I think it will be interesting to see how the start-up community continues to evolve and how young firms will ride out the current economic situation. There's also a whole new generation of serial entrepreneurs, investors and networking gurus that I hope to get to know. I will also be paying attention to trends in government IT contracting as security and privacy standards tighten and new Web technologies become more widely available. What do I see for the DC tech community in the next few years? That's what I'll be trying to find out along the way.

3. Your beat currently covers telco and web 2.0 in addition to The Download – With such a significant amount of news being generated by DC area businesses as well as business across the country, how do you decide where to spend your focus each day?

I don't have a formula for how I spend my days, and my focus will turn to whichever issues are most important to our readers. I will continue to cover some telecom-related issues, such as the digital TV transition and the battle over so-called white spaces, and I will continue to look for interesting trends that show how we as consumers are changing with technology. But the majority of my time will be writing about local tech companies, blogging about breaking news and writing the column. Every day is different, but I am always open to story ideas and new directions.

4. The Post’s business staff has the WashBiz Blog and a Facebook presence in addition to the daily paper and other online reporting. Can you shed some light on the current role of new media inside the newsroom and any thoughts of its future implications?

New media will continue to be a major priority for us, as it is at most news organizations around the country. Blogs are proliferating throughout the newsroom, and reporters are devoting more time to posting breaking news on the Web and updating blogs more frequently. I mainly contribute to the Post. I.T. blog, which is the Post's technology blog. It's really starting to gain traction, and I hope we can become a must-read for more people who interested in tech issues. The new duties also mean some reporters will shoot our own photos and video for the Web. We're trying to do more with fewer resources, but I think it's helping us to sharpen our focus in order to write about what matters most to readers.