A Letter to Our Readers (WaPo's Weymouth: "dog ate homework" - Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

The Washington Post ^ | July 5, 2009 | Katherine Weymouth

[abb]

I want to apologize for a planned new venture that went off track and for any cause we may have given you to doubt our independence and integrity. A flier distributed last week suggested that we were selling access to power brokers in Washington through dinners that were to take place at my home. The flier was not approved by me or newsroom editors, and it did not accurately reflect what we had in mind. But let me be clear: The flier was not the only problem. Our mistake was to suggest that we would hold and participate in an off-the-record dinner with journalists and power brokers paid for by a sponsor. We will not organize such events. As publisher it is my job to ensure that we adhere to standards that are consistent with our integrity as a news organization. Last week, I let you, and the organization, down. The Washington Post remains committed, now and always, to the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Nothing is more important to us than that, and nothing will shake that commitment.

So what happened? Like other media companies, The Post hosts conferences and live events that bring together journalists, government officials and other leaders for discussions of important topics. These events make news and inform their audiences. We had planned to extend this business to include smaller gatherings, a practice that has become common at other media companies.

From the outset, we laid down firm parameters to ensure that these events would be consistent with The Post's values. If the events were to be sponsored by other companies, everything would be at arm's length -- sponsors would have no control over the content of the discussions, and no special access to our journalists.

snip

[abb]

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[Liz]

I want to apologize for a venture that went off track, and I am announcing a brand new money-maker:

For $25,000, we at the Wash/Po will let you watch several muscle-bound construction workers manhandle Rahm Emanuel.

"O-o-o-o-o, I can't wait.

[timestax]

lol bttt

[GOPJ]

For $25,000, we at the Wash/Po will let you watch several muscle-bound construction workers manhandle Rahm Emanuel.

Will have be before for after the soiree at the Publisher's mansion?

[Billthedrill]

Eleven salons planned at $250,000 per "sponsor" for the package, two participants per "sponsor." Four such "sponsors" would have brought in a cool million dollars. Dozens of them, well, the math isn't difficult. That's what was involved here.

The notion that the Post was doing anything other than selling access to political figures is simply false. Such events, in the words of the flyer, "make the news." While corrupt enough, that isn't the issue - the issue is whether such events make the policy as well.

That would, of course, be highly unethical and quite illegal, but it wouldn't be the Post's problem. And it would certainly help ticket sales, wouldn't it? And if the journalists there wanted to keep their own access to this club they'd better be discreet about what they print about it. Hadn't they?

[Liz]

ASAP-—Rahm can’t wait.....LOL.