Ashley Allison’s Watering Gap Media acquires digital publication, The Root
Political strategist brings the long-lasting media model to Black possession, setting the stage for a brand new period of cultural management
Ashley Allison, a nationally acknowledged political strategist, communications knowledgeable, CNN commentator, and former Obama-Biden White Home Administration official, has introduced that her firm, Watering Gap Media, has acquired digital media outlet, The Root.
The acquisition indicators a transformative second in media management, one rooted in cultural authority, belief, and illustration.
Allison, who additionally served because the Nationwide Coalitions Director for the Biden-Harris 2020 presidential marketing campaign, has constructed a profession on amplifying various voices and navigating the intersection of politics, coverage, and tradition.
Via Watering Gap Media, she brings this expertise to the digital panorama, positioning the corporate to ship journalism, storytelling, and leisure that replicate the depth and complexity of Black communities.
“This isn’t about making extra content material however slightly about making that means of this second,” shares Allison. “The Root has all the time been about preserving tradition and creating readability in a world filled with distractions. Proudly owning the ability to inform our personal tales is a wealthy custom The Root is dedicated to upholding.”
Based in 2008 by historian, filmmaker, and literary critic Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., Director of the Hutchins Heart for African and African American Analysis at Harvard College, and former Washington Put up Writer Donald E. Graham, The Root is a trusted vacation spot the place Black voices are featured and celebrated.
“I’m so very happy with Ashley Allison for main The Root into its subsequent thrilling chapter, and for returning The Root to its roots,” enthused Professor Gates. “When Donald and I launched The Root, my imaginative and prescient was to create a platform to showcase the complete complexity of Black life with depth, intelligence, and, most significantly, unapologetic honesty. Too typically, legacy mainstream shops deal with Black tales as an afterthought, treating a complete group of individuals as if they’re a sidebar. The Root wanted to be a entrance web page in its personal proper. A platform the place our historical past, our tradition, and our politics weren’t solely centered, however elevated.”
The Root acquisition will proceed the cultural storytelling, whereas including immersive multimedia and experimental codecs that push boundaries, whereas honoring the written phrase and journalistic rigor.
Rashad Robinson, who will function a strategic advisor to Watering Gap Media and The Root’s crew, provides, “Rebooting The Root is an thrilling second within the media panorama, with a lot potential to make Black voices a good stronger pressure within the large fights going down in our nation proper now. The Root offers an infrastructure for rising Black expertise and helps a drumbeat of reporting on points that may not in any other case achieve momentum. I’m excited to be a part of its subsequent chapter.”
Allison’s management displays her long-standing dedication to racial fairness and illustration. Past her expertise on the White Home and on the marketing campaign path, she is a frequent CNN commentator recognized for her clear and knowledgeable political evaluation.
Earlier in her profession, she served as a highschool particular training trainer in Brooklyn, New York, earlier than incomes her grasp’s in training and a legislation diploma in public curiosity legislation.
She was additionally appointed as a Harvard Kennedy College Institute of Politics Fellow in 2021.
About The Root
Based in 2008 by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Washington Put up Writer Donald Graham, The Root has grown into each a media model and cultural establishment trusted by tens of millions of Black People.
In 2019, it was acquired by G/O Media, the place it turned the final remaining media property in a once-diverse portfolio that included Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, and The Onion.
In 2025. The Root was acquired by Watering Gap Media, returning the long-lasting media model to Black possession.
About Watering Gap Media
Watering Gap Media (WHM) is a social-impact media firm centered on “opening minds, activating change, and creating wins for the individuals.”
WHM creates culturally related, digitally native content material designed to spark conversations, shift mindsets, and mobilize collective motion in service of social justice and democracy.
