Former Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein joins Vox Media

Ezra Klein, perhaps best known for his work on the Washington Post’s Wonkblog, has accepted an offer to build a new news media site at Vox Media, he announced yesterday.

Vox Media is a relatively young digital publisher that has created notable news sites across various genres, including The Verge (tech), SB Nation (sports), Polygon (gaming), and others. It’s also known for luring away top talent from huge legacy organizations, as it did with the former staff at AOL’s Engadget, who eventually became The Verge.

“We really wanted to build something from the ground up that helps people understand the news better, Klein told the New York Times. “We are not just trying to scale Wonkblog, we want to improve the technology of news, and Vox has a vision of how to solve some of that.”

The move is a bit surprising because it begs the question of why Klein didn’t look to the Washington Post to help him launch the site. This is especially true considering that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently purchased the Post for a sizable amount and no clear indication of a business model (not to mention Bezos’ previous investment in similar media organization BusinessInsider).