A battle of the Stars looms in D.C.’s shifting media scene

After The Washington Post laid off more than 300 journalists in February, several local and national news outlets based in the nation’s capital announced expansions to fill coverage gaps. Among newsrooms vying to step up where the Post was ceding ground, NOTUS emerged as the most ambitious. In March, it announced plans to double its staff, starting with hiring several former Post reporters; in April, leadership confirmed NOTUS would rebrand as “The Star” and relaunch in June.

But it turns out NOTUS isn’t the only rising media star in town. The Washington Star, a conservative-leaning newspaper and onetime Post rival that shut down in 1981, has started publishing again under media executive and New York Sun publisher Dovid Efune, The New York Times reported Thursday. What’s more, The Washington Star Company is suing NOTUS over the Star name; the plaintiff filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday, Law360 reported.

Efune previously revived The New York Sun after it shut down in 2008, and claims it is profitable today, per the Times. The Washington Star has begun publishing on Substack, and Efune told the Times’ Katie Robertson that he aims to have a website live in the next two months and publish a weekend print newspaper by the end of this year. He said he plans to hire up to 50 full-time journalists and contributors. The launch of the new Star, he added, “accelerated our timeline to scale up.”

The Washington Star is back!

Join us today: https://t.co/iFwKDPlKJI pic.twitter.com/3ApgVSozfW

— The Washington Star (@TheWashStar) May 28, 2026

NOTUS publisher and backer Robert Allbritton has ties to the reanimated newspaper, too; his father owned The Washington Star. Allbritton recently told Columbia Journalism Review replicating that name would be too “backward looking,” but CJR described the new NOTUS name as an “homage” to The Washington Star. The plaintiff’s lawsuit explicitly expresses concern that the NOTUS rebrand, coupled with Allbritton’s family connections to The Washington Star, will confuse readers, and argues the “confusingly similar” name will violate The Washington Star’s trademark.

A NOTUS spokesperson said the publication would vigorously defend against The Washington Star Company’s suit, per the Times.

Read the full Times story here, Law360’s reporting on the lawsuit here, and an explainer from City Cast DC here, which notes, “For the record, City Cast DC will not be rebranding as City Star DC.”

Updated with information about The Washington Star Company’s trademark infringement lawsuit against NOTUS.