The Goli Standard

Goli Sheikholeslami has spent her career leading some of the country’s most respected news organizations, including NPR, The Washington Post, and New York Public Radio.

Now, as chief executive of POLITICO, she’s navigating a volatile media and political climate—working to double down on political reporting while expanding the brand across formats and geographies.

In a Q&A with Status this week, we discussed how POLITICO is adapting to Donald Trump’s second term, confronting misinformation campaigns, and responding to the rise of independent newsletter empires.

Below is the Q&A, lightly edited for style.

Let's just cut to it: I hear you have some news to share with me?

Yes! We are expanding Playbook with the launch of “The Playbook Podcast,” a new daily pod co-hosted by Playbook author and managing editor Jack Blanchard and our White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns. The show will take listeners on a snappy ride through the latest in Trump’s Washington, and the first episode drops tomorrow.

We’re not just teaming Jack and Dasha on the pod—Dasha is also joining Jack atop the daily newsletter as our Chief Playbook Correspondent. We couldn’t think of a better pair to anchor Playbook: Jack with his sharp editorial voice and distillation of the day, and Dasha with her deeply sourced reporting from inside the White House.

With these launches, Playbook will deliver essential political reporting daily across platforms and formats, serving the most influential audience in politics.

Speaking of newsletters, there’s a growing ecosystem of high-profile independent newsletters on Substack, beehiiv, and other platforms—many written by former stars of the mainstream press. Do you see them as competitors? Would you ever consider acquiring some of them to bolster POLITICO's offering?

I have a lot of respect for the creativity and personality you see in the independent newsletter space. It is one of the more exciting evolutions in journalism right now. But I wouldn’t say we’re in the same business. POLITICO serves a very specific audience that relies on us not just for insight, but for real-time intelligence, tools, and data to do their jobs—to make decisions. That requires scale, structure, and the kind of newsroom muscle—we have 600 political and policy journalists worldwide!—that’s hard to replicate.

Would we ever bring in an independent writer or voice? If it served our audience, and meets their expectations for depth, breadth, and authority, then absolutely... But it’s never about trends, it’s about what helps our readers and subscribers do their jobs better.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: Donald Trump. His first 100 days back in office have been nothing short of chaotic—from sweeping executive orders to personnel purges. How is POLITICO adapting its coverage strategy to meet the moment?

We’ve responded with the most competitive report POLITICO has ever delivered on a new presidency. We have broken story after story—Elon Musk’s expected departure, Scott Bessent’s high-stakes tariff diplomacy, furious Hill negotiations over the Trump tax agenda and, yes, chaos at the Pentagon. And across the board we are organizing our report around revealing how Trump’s Washington really works and the impact of this administration on policy. Not just the barrage of daily activity and noise, but the core of the administration’s agenda and the way it uses power. There’s been a ton of activity and some of it has been haphazard. Then there are parts of the administration that are the opposite of chaotic—highly disciplined about their policy and political goals and intensely focused on executing their plans.

Earlier this year, Elon Musk falsely claimed that POLITICO received millions in USAID grants—an accusation amplified through DOGE. It wasn’t true, but the damage was real: federal agencies were directed to cancel subscriptions to POLITICO Pro. What was going through your mind as that played out, and what does it say about the modern threat environment for news organizations?

After 30 years in this business, it was one of those moments that crystallized for me just how different the media environment is today. The velocity of misinformation—and the sheer unpredictability of how quickly it can take hold—is unlike anything we’ve seen before. It’s disorienting, and it forces you to take a hard look at what you stand for. For us, it became a moment of clarity.

Our response was simple: stay focused on our mission, our readers, our subscribers and our work. We know what we’re building, and we know who we’re building it for. And we know that our subscribers rely on us for timely, reliable intelligence. Our job is to stay rooted in facts, in transparency, and in service to our audience. The noise may be louder these days, but so is the need for what we do.

What’s your plan for protecting POLITICO's journalists and maintaining access without compromising principles in this era where the Fourth Estate is under dishonest and constant attack?

We have high editorial standards and we are clear about our values and principles as a company—our core commitment to nonpartisan and tough-mindedly fair journalism doesn’t change, no matter who holds power. And we aim to be transparent about our decisions so that our readers, viewers, listeners—even our own journalists—understand and trust why we do what we do.

We have continued to push for access at all levels of government the same as we always have. In some cases, we’re working with our peers to ensure our concerns are heard and addressed. But we will never let any changes—or potential changes—stop us from pursuing the story.

You’ve worked in senior roles at several legacy organizations (NPR, The Washington Post, New York Public Radio). How does Politico’s DNA differ—and what advantages or challenges does that present?

Those other organizations have incredible depth and history, but they also carry the weight of those traditions. At POLITICO, we had the advantage of starting fresh and building for a new political era in a digital-first world. That gives us clarity: we’re here to serve the world’s most influential audiences with actionable intelligence. We don’t explain what happened but instead help them understand what’s next. What is most exciting is that we’re not done building, not even close.

Before I let you go, as a fellow Persian, I must ask: What is your favorite Iranian restaurant to frequent and what is your favorite dish?

Joon is hands down the best Iranian restaurant in the DMV. And my favorite dish at Joon … Ghalieh Mahi, fish in tamarind and herb sauce from the southern region of Iran that is tangy and delicious!

• Pope Leo XIV identified A.I. as one of the most pressing matters facing humanity as he outlined his vision of the papacy over the weekend. [AP]

  • A favor to Big Tech? Donald Trump fired the head of the U.S. Copyright Office who harbored concerns about A.I. training off of copyrighted material. [CBS News]

• Barry Diller chatted about his memoir with Maureen Dowd, saying he is "shortening the tour part" of his book tour because he is "not up for interrogation on aspects of my personal life." [NYT]

  • Diller also appeared on "CBS Sunday Morning," revealing that he was in his youth when he realized he might be gay: "Eleven or twelve years old, or 13, I got on my bike, and I rode down to the Beverly Hills Public Library. And I looked for books on homosexuality." [CBS News]

• A handful of outlets, including Fox News, published stories that claimed Austin Tice's body had been found in Syria. That, however, is not true.

  • "We appreciate whatever mission is ongoing to help families of ISIS victims find closure. However, an initial and erroneous report that Austin Tice was identified among the remains was quickly and completely contradicted," a rep for the Tice family said. "The gratuitous repetition of this rumor is designed for clicks and is unfortunate and deeply disrespectful to the family.”

• Spotify and other platforms removed Kanye West's latest song, "Heil Hitler," though it continues to rack up views on Elon Musk’s X. [Deadline]

  • John Legend opened up about West, whom he previously collaborated with: "It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now." [Sunday Times]

• Taylor Swift's spokesperson laced into Justin Baldoni for subpoenaing the pop star: "This document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case." [Variety]

• "Saturday Night Live" featured a "Mother's Day message" from Trump and Jeanine Pirro. [YouTube]

  • "Weekend Update" took aim at MAGA outrage over the Pope and Trump's movie tariff proposal, among other things. [YouTube]

  • Walton Goggins hosted and starred in a Mother's Day brunch skit. [YouTube]

• The BAFTA TV Awards were hosted in London. Variety has the winners list here. [Variety]

• In London, Tom Cruise reflected on his career, explaining why he initially rejected a "Top Gun" sequel and what it was like to shoot that famous courtroom scene in "A Few Good Men" with Jack Nicholson. [Deadline]

• Sony Pictures boss Tom Rothman signed a contract extension that will make him the longest-serving film chief in Hollywood. [Deadline]

• "Thunderbolts*" topped the box office with $33.1 million, a decline of 55% from its opening weekend.

• "Sinners" continued to post strong numbers, pocketing $21.1 million in its third weekend. It has now made more than $283 million at the global box office.

• "A Minecraft Movie" took home another $8 million and "The Accountant 2" printed $6.1 million.

[Data via Box Office Mojo]