AFP - Allbritton Communications Co., the media company behind political news website Politico, plans to launch a site next year covering local news in the Washington area, Politico said Wednesday.

Politico said Allbritton plans a staff of some 50 people for the website, which will compete with WashingtonPost.com, the website of The Washington Post.

It said the website will be run by Jim Brady, who stepped down in December as executive editor of WashingtonPost.com, and plans to launch in the spring.

Politico said a name has not yet been chosen for the website, which will share content with the sites of two Washington-area television stations also owned by Allbritton.

Allbritton Communications chairman and chief executive Robert Allbritton said in a memo to Politico staff that he is "committed to making our new enterprise among the nation?s most ambitious and innovative projects of its kind."

He said the website "will harness the power of the Web, social media, and new technology to connect Washingtonians with each other and with the information that matters most in their family, civic and work lives."

Politico quoted Brady as saying that "the goal is to build a Web-based local news site that can become for local news what Politico?s become for political junkies."

Politico launched nearly three years ago and provides in-depth coverage of the Washington political scene with a newspaper and its website, Politico.com.