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: Victims should come first
Millions of dollars in donations have poured in from around the world since the May 22, 2011, tornado. Those donations represent money from lemonade stands, charity auctions, corporate gifts and celebrity checks, just to name a few. In fact, one year later donations continue to come to Joplin.
-
Beth Meeker, guest columnist: Same-sex marriage battle a quest for equal rights
I would like to take a moment to reply to guest columnist Anson Burlingame’s, “The Marriage Debate” (Globe, May 13).
-
Sunday Forum: 2012 graduation speakers key on tornado, mall school and president’s visit
Editor’s note: In addition to speeches by President Barack Obama and Gov. Jay Nixon, Joplin High School’s top students addressed graduates, faculty, parents and other guests packed into the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus. Following are the text of those speeches.
-
Geoff Caldwell, guest columnist: Pack mentality takes truth as a casualty
President Obama’s Joplin graduation speech Monday showed that while there’s the political “right,” there’s also a very active “rabid” political right.
-
Your View: ‘Study’ can mean anything
A few evenings ago, I watched a television program on the science of marriage.
-
Our View: Support for museum
How can you tell the story of Joplin without the accounts of its mining history?
-
Our View: Finding middle ground
The G-8 summit held last week in Camp David ended as expected.
-
Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Class of 2012 upholds character, hope
My oldest granddaughter was part of the class of 2012 from Joplin High School, and I attended the ceremony on Monday night.
-
Scott Charton, guest columnist: 'Deadline in Disaster' film a story about storytellers
Local newspapers are at their best when they help their communities confront, understand, endure and overcome shared challenges.
-
Our View: Make voting easiser
This year’s ballot will not include a proposed constitutional amendment that photo identification be required at the polls in Missouri. Good.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Our View: Victims should come first
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
