Founding Crosscut was founded in 2007 by
David Brewster, who had previously started the
Seattle Weekly in 1976 and launched
Town Hall Seattle in 1999. Other investors included former
Seattle mayor Paul Schell, former
Seattle City Councilman and
KING-TV commentator
Jim Compton, and former KING Broadcasting Company president
Stimson Bullitt.
Editors Until November 2008, the site's editor was former
Weekly and
Seattle Union Record editor
Chuck Taylor, who was also a reporter, editor, and graphic designer at the
Seattle Times. He left Crosscut during its transition to a nonprofit. For almost a year, the site was edited by Brewster alone until former
Seattle Post-Intelligencer and
Seattle Times editor Mark Matassa joined in September 2009. Matassa only stayed with Crosscut for three months, leaving in December to join the administration of new Seattle mayor
Mike McGinn. He was replaced by his sister, former
Times journalist Michele Matassa-Flores, and former
P-I columnist Joe Copeland. Matassa-Flores left in the summer of 2011. Crosscut was then edited by Greg Hanscom (executive editor), Drew Atkins (managing editor), and Copeland (senior editor). Florangela Davila later came on as managing editor. Currently, Victor Hernandez serves as executive editor, Mark Baumgarten serves as managing editor, and Knute Berger is the editor-at-large.
Transition to a nonprofit On November 17, 2008, Brewster announced that a switch to
nonprofit status was being explored by Crosscut LLC, which necessitated temporary staff cuts. Brewster remained the only employee until September 2009, when grant funding finally materialized and Crosscut was able to hire an editor and support staff, including an editor, an advertising director, and eventually a Web developer. In October 2009, Crosscut initiated its first pledge drive. Nearly 400 people donated money to support the site's continued existence.
Acquisition by KCTS-TV On December 2, 2015, it was announced that
KCTS-TV, a local
PBS member television station based in Seattle, would merge with
Crosscut and another website to form Cascade Public Media. The station's existing newsroom was merged with
Crosscut's. KCTS-TV and
Crosscut unified under the
Cascade PBS name on March 1, 2024, coinciding with their move in January to a new facility on
First Hill that formerly served as the longtime home of
Childhaven. Cascade PBS announced in September 2025 that it planned to lay off its local journalists and reporters as part of a cost reduction plan due to the end of federal funding for the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. ==Notable writers==