From a staff email from Dan De Luc:

Dear friends:

As we hope you've noticed by now, there is a new A-section page, In the Loop, which has replaced the long-running Fed Page. We're asking that you stay alert for moments, events, comings, goings and documents you may come across in the course of your reporting that would work for the new page. If you're out and about and see something--inside or outside the marble buildings--that might be a tip or item or even a short story, please let us know. Alert your editor and ask to get in touch with us.

Below is a short memo outlining our goals. Thanks.

Dan

----- Forwarded by Dan LeDuc/news/TWP on 01/08/2007 05:28 PM -----

Susan Glasser

01/08/2007 12:28 PM

To: NEWS - National

cc:

Subject: Loopiness

Dear all:

The venerable Federal Page has become In the Loop and along with the name change comes a new mandate to tell our readers more about Inside Washington. But if the name has changed the need for your help is as great as ever. Yes, the page continues to feature Mr. Kamen Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as well as terrific new columns from Jeff Birnbaum on Tuesdays and Lois Romano on Thursdays, but the daily column is not all that make up this page (it has only been a half-page in recent days because of the holidays and today returned to its regular 3/4 page look.) That's where you come in. We need your eyes, ears and skills to find stuff that will make the page pop.

Our goal is a sophisticated tone that is often humorous, sometimes outraged, frequently serious and never sophomoric.

So, yes, send us the documents, invitations, press releases, statements, transcripts and all the rest that cross your desk or end up in your email. We want to feature excerpts from as many Primary Source documents as we can -- the more illuminating, surprising, and truth-telling (especially if that was not the way it was intended) the better.

So yes, we want profiles. But these days we want them tightly focused and shorter. Was there a photo that caught everyone's attention and showed some unknown aide, whispering in a key lawmaker's ear. Who was that person?

So yes, we want ideas for creative graphics that can stand alone to tell stories.

And yes, by all means, we want your ideas, suggestions, thoughts, compliments and even your complaints. Tell us about the hot book that everyone is talking about--better yet, write us a short story about it. Think of the moments, exchanges or telling quotes that you come across each day -- and send them our way. Think of the one thing you want to talk about most with a colleague when you return from an assignment, there's a good chance you could write it for us.

The idea is not an increased workload for you--there is no longer a rotation to demand stories from you. It just means we want you to use the same antenna you employ each day to keep a lookout the Loop. Much of what we're looking for can be told in short, concise stories, which you can do or which you can merely tip us to. We trust that you will employ the smarts and savvy that you bring to your beats and coverage to help us find for our readers the important, the cool, the dish, the insights that will keep them In The Loop.

Dan LeDuc is overseeing this venture. He will not only be the sounding board, eagerly waiting to hear from you, but he also will be aggressively seeking you out for help. Please oblige.

Susan Bill Dan