We can only imagine the uproar this week in The Washington Post’s newsroom when editors and reporters discovered an offer was circulating that would have played them like pawns.
Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth, on Thursday, canceled plans for an exclusive gathering at her home that would cost lobbyists and other executives $25,000 a meal for off-the-record access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress and some of the paper’s reporters and editors.
Quicker than you could yell “retraction,” Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli explained that the fliers should never have gone out and they were never vetted.
“You cannot buy access to a Washington Post journalist,” Brauchli told other media outlets.
But apparently there were some on the marketing side of the paper who thought maybe they could. We expect someone at the Post might be looking for a new job today. And rightly so.
Newspapers are multifaceted businesses that are expected to turn a profit via paper and advertising sales. But not by selling face time with a reporter or editor.
People walk into our newsroom daily, many with a story they want to discuss, a letter they want published, or even a complaint. We make time for lobbyists and politicians, the same as we make time for high-school students, local coaches and those occasional souls who are down on their luck with nowhere to turn. There is no charge at the door. Nor are reporters or editors allowed to accept gifts. They are either returned to the giver or donated to charity. The suggestion of quid pro quo leaves a newsroom’s credibility up for debate.
While the Post is doing everything in its power to convince its readers that this was simply a matter of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing, considerable damage has been done to the reputation of what some consider one of the leading sources of news in the nation.
The Post’s reporters shouldn’t have to pay the price for this folly.
Opinion
In our view: Pay to play doesn't work in newsroom
- Opinion
-
-
Our View: Santorum's Achilles' ear
Rick Santorum knocked everyone for a loop this week, not just with his victory in Missouri but with the landslide size of the thing.
-
Our View: Are school loans next 'debt bomb'?
The late American middle class struggled for decades to keep pace with an American dream slipping from its grasp.
-
Our View: A better way of limit terms
A Missouri House committee on Tuesday endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow lawmakers to serve 16 years in the state Legislature, either the House or the Senate.
-
Your View: Is it our fault?
When did coveting things and money take over character? What happened?
-
Your View: No way to run a school
All throughout the state of Missouri, you’ll hear much discussion about teacher tenure and the indefinite contracts that go along with that. Most — if not nearly all — jobs in the private and public sectors have no such career protection.
-
Your View: Prime suspects
If it’s too cool in the house, you can turn up the heat if you think you can afford it.
-
Our View: Worldwide concern
There is growing concern worldwide that Israel might launch an attack on Iranian nuclear plants.
-
Other Views: FAA deal up in air five years
The Federal Aviation Administration bill was delayed 23 times, but the agency finally has a law giving it $63 billion and full operating authority for the next four years.
-
Don Ray, columnist: Obama's pipeline excuse an election-year cop-out
On Jan. 18, President Barack Obama announced he was rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline project — a project that had its beginnings some 40 months ago (September 2008).
-
James Whitford, guest columnist: Broken people or broken system?
Are the people broken or is the system broken? If you walk into Watered Gardens, our rescue mission, it may seem the people are broken. But it’s a rescue mission. It just feels that way. And sometimes, it just looks that way.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
