Crest Media And Real Clear Investors Buy Remaining Stake In RealClearPolitics

"RealClearPolitics can make one of the rarest claims in media today, which is that it's a category of one," said Jason Woods, President of Crest Media

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - Crest Media, owner of leading Middle East news outlet Al-Monitor, and Real Clear Investors, current co-owner of RealClearPolitics, have together purchased the remaining equity stake in RealClearPolitics from Forbes Media LLC for an undisclosed sum.

"We're thrilled to have Crest Media as a partner," said RealClearPolitics co-founder Tom Bevan. "They share our vision of building a powerhouse brand for online news, analysis and information. Al-Monitor in just a few years has become a first-class source for top quality reporting and analysis on the Middle East."

"RealClearPolitics can make one of the rarest claims in media today, which is that it's a category of one," said Jason Woods, President of Crest Media. "Much as Al-Monitor puts a finger on the pulse of the Middle East, RealClearPolitics offers millions of readers a full breakdown of American public life on everything from politics to markets to policy to sports."

Al-Monitor and RealClearPolitics will work together to cross-promote content and will collaborate on ways in which to enhance delivery of news and information to their readers. Stories from Al-Monitor will boost RealClearPolitics, RealClearWorld and RealClearEnergy's coverage of the Middle East. Al-Monitor and RealClearPolitics intend to work together to implement in the markets in which Al-Monitor provides analysis the polling aggregation techniques that RealClearPolitics has successfully implemented in the U.S. Al-Monitor and its affiliates also plan to provide translations of RealClearPolitics' original reporting and analysis in all languages except English and Spanish, thus introducing RealClearPolitics' unmatched U.S. political content to new audiences.

"RealClearPolitics and Al-Monitor share a parallel dedication to distilling the most powerful, complete and accurate information on topics of national and global significance," said RealClearPolitics co-founder John McIntyre. "Leveraging our mutual strengths, we'll be able to do some new and very exciting things."

Operated by current co-owners John McIntyre, Tom Bevan and Anand Ramanujan, RealClearPolitics is widely considered an essential part of the daily media digest, offering a distilled look at the news, opinion, and analysis landscape; providing the most comprehensive, accurate and in-depth poll tracking; and leading the media with top-line commentary and assessment.

In addition to RealClearPolitics, which was founded in 2000, there are also 12 agenda-setting news and analysis sites branded Real Clear, including RealClearWorld, RealClearMarkets, RealClearDefense, RealClear Science, RealClearTech, RealClearReligion, RealClearSports and RealClearEnergy.

Al-Monitor, honored with the International Press Institute's Free Media Pioneer Award in 2014, provides reporting and analysis on the Middle East. Al-Monitor offers an in-depth focus on Egypt, Gulf, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey as well as U.S. Congressional developments and Russia's role in the region. Content is published both in English and its original language – Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish.

Crest Media, which was founded by energy, telecomm, tech and media business leader Jamal Daniel, launched Al-Monitor in 2012 as the first U.S.-based news company that source reporting directly from the region's most respected reporters and experienced analysts.

RealClearPolitics is just the most recent media investment for Crest Media. In addition to Al-Monitor, Crest Media has invested in other international media-related ventures.