Posted by Lauren Preston
It’s no secret that the landscape is changing significantly in the news industry – and that newspapers across the country have been affected by the economic times. Denver became a one-paper town after the Rocky Mountain News closed after almost 150 years in print. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer turned exclusively online operation and has reduced staff significantly. The number of respected newspapers is shrinking drastically and it appears another one may bite the dust – but, this time it seems to be at the hand of its own accord.
A few days ago, news that The Washington Post was planning a private “salon” style meetings at the private home of their publisher, Katharine Weymouth. The kicker: The Post was charging lobbyists between $25,000 and $250,000 to have exclusive, off-the-record access to some of Obama’s administrators, Congress members, as well as some of the Post’s top editors and writers. I guess we can now say the Post WAS planning on having these events, since in light of the overwhelming response and coverage of said plans, the Post has opted to cancel the dinners moving forward. Surprise, surprise.
In an era where reporters can’t even accept a cup of coffee or lunch courtesy of a source, PR person, etc., how would it ever be legit for a lobbyist to pay up to a quarter of a million dollars (potentially) to speak privately with a reporter? Can we say newspaper prostitution? The Post is pimping out access to staff to the highest bidder with promise of “off-the-record, non-confrontational conversation,” according to the New York Times.
Although the reported flier that was sent to lobbyists to pimp out these events is now being called just a “draft” that was yet to be approved for distribution, I would imagine this is simply a reactive PR tactic. The damage has already been done. The Post just shamed itself and removed itself from a small circle of reliable publications.
Yes, there have been many scandals in recent years, at a variety of newspapers, including some of the top guns. Some have bounced back the no worse for wear, but at a time when newspaper readership is down so significantly and the number of well-respected newspapers is shrinking, the Post should have known better when they sent out that flier. I, for one, am not inclined to read a newspaper that was about to jump into bed with politicians and lobbyists at $25K to $250K a pop. Good luck getting yourself out of this one, folks.
You can read more about this story here.
1 response so far ↓
1 Solid Citizen // Sep 12, 2009 at 12:53 pm
It sounds like O'Keefe and Giles are budding 21st century Woodward and Bernstein team….why doesn't the Washington Post hire people with the guts and imagination to do real, hard hitting, corruption exposing, investigative journalism anymore? the Census Bureau has terminated its association with ACORN. There is no mention of terminating the Census Bureau terminating its association with the 322-odd affiliates that are under the ACORN umbrella. A RICO investigation should have been initiated a long time ago for this organization…(and the Post, too)
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