• by Fern Siegel , January 13, 2009

Air America Media has hired former "Wonkette" Ana Marie Cox as its first Washington, D.C.-based national correspondent. She will debut Jan. 19 to report on the Obama Inauguration, as well as traverse the U.S. to profile people and stories that illustrate American life. 

Cox will contribute text, video and audio to airamerica.com, while handling a weekly show on Air America's radio network, which currently airs "The Rachel Maddow Show" and "The Ron Reagan Show."

She will continue to write two posts per week for Tina Brown's "The Daily Beast."

Cox got her start as the founding editor of the political blog Wonkette, leaving to join Time. com, which she departed in December 2008. She gained notoriety in the world of political journalism for exposing Jessica Cutler, an assistant to Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), who took money from a Bush administration official and others in exchange for sexual favors.

Bill Hess, senior vice president of programming for Air America, said her curiosity about issues facing Americans "promises to serve as the foundation for lively reports and commentaries from the capital and from the Main Streets of America."

Prior to joining "Wonkette," Cox served on the editorial staffs of Suck.com, Mother Jones and Radar.

Air America Media runs a national progressive talk radio network and Web business. The network is carried on 60 affiliates nationwide, including WWRL in New York, KTLK Los Angeles and WCPT in Chicago. It also runs on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.