by Mark Silva
Access.
Washington runs on it.
And plenty of people will pay dearly for it.
But when the publisher of the Washington Post, a paper that has devoted considerable resources to rooting out and exposing the sale of influence in the nation's capital, learned that access to her own proposed "salons'' with members of the Obama administration and others was going for as much as $250,000, she pulled the plug.
"This should never have happened,'' said Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth.
Who better to tell this tale than the Post's own Howard Kurtz, media critic and star of TV's Reliable Sources:
Weymouth canceled plans for "a series of policy dinners at her home after learning that marketing fliers offered lobbyists access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress and Post journalists in exchange for payments as high as $250,000,'' Mistah Kurtz reports.
"Absolutely, I'm disappointed," Weymouth, the chief executive of Washington Post Media, said in an interview. "This should never have happened. The fliers got out and weren't vetted. They didn't represent at all what we were attempting to do. We're not going to do any dinners that would impugn the integrity of the newsroom."
Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli too was "appalled'' by the plan, and insisted before its scrap that the newsroom staff would not take part in these dinners.
"It suggests that access to Washington Post journalists was available for purchase," Brauchli said.
Yes it did.
Politico broke the story about the Post's retracted sales pitch, which spread through Washington today faster than a brush fire in the windswept hills of Santa Barbara.
It was broken and fixed before the day's news cycle ended.
("Katharine,'' as Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, pictured above in the Watergate hunt, might have put it: "Get me Redo.'')
The lamented fliers were circulated by the newspaper's parent company, ever in search of new revenue sources and offering an "intimate and exclusive Washington Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth,'' Kurtz notes.
Particpants could pay $25,000 to sponsor a single salon and $250,000 to underwrite an annual series of 11 sessions.
One of the fliers offered this invitation: "Bring your organization's CEO or executive director literally to the table. Interact with key Obama Administration and Congressional leaders . . . Spirited? Yes. Confrontational? No. The relaxed setting in the home of Katharine Weymouth assures it."
"We do not offer access to the newsroom for money," Brauchli said, in Kurtz's account of the saga. "We just are not in that business.'' He has reminded his staff: "Our independence from advertisers or sponsors is inviolable."
See the Politico report on the Post's own Postgate, and see the Post's account.
Comments
Journalistic integrity? What's that?
The Post and the Administration only regret getting caught.
Posted by: No Change | July 2, 2009 2:47 PM
Really, how do you finesse your way out of this one? It's a huge black eye for the Post. And clearly there will be a financial price as well, with the paper also having written itself out of the once-lucrative Blogger Ethics Panel business from this point on.
Posted by: save a seal. club a republican | July 2, 2009 4:17 PM
Just think, if WaPo were real journalists and not Conservative Loving Bottom Feeding Hacks and they actually investigated Bush back in 2002 and forced a cancellation of the invasion of Iraq. Looks to me that they have much to learn about journalism. The first thing is you don't sell "access" to government or your own reporters and editorial writers.
Posted by: 2009 GOP - "No idea's, No plan, No clue" | July 2, 2009 4:21 PM
This article implies that not only was WaPo prostituting it's pages out in the past, but they were also trying to act as power brokers and facilitators between lobbyists and the Bush administration.
Wow. Just.... wow, although I can't really say that I'm surprised.
Posted by: former Republican | July 2, 2009 4:26 PM
WAPO speaks in false tongues.
WAPO retracts falsehood and replaces with another falsehood.
WAPO circumvents circulation revenue and replaces it with a more profitable division of Curry Favors.
WAPO goes full Cheney.
The Republican Loving Corporate Media died in March 2003. Remember that scripted "press conference" Bush held just before the Iraq war started? Every so-called journalist who took part in that insulting farce ought to have his or her press pass run through a shredder.
They did nothing but serve as cheerleaders for the Iraq war. What stupid, clueless, cowardly clowns. It's hard to believe that most of them have Journalism degree's.
Posted by: GOP Oligarchy | July 2, 2009 4:36 PM
Maybe if WaPo actually did some real REPORTING with FACTS and stuff instead of repeating word for word what the GOP propaganda machine puts out, they wouldn't have to worry about these sort of embarrassing stories coming out.
I know, I'm dreaming again...
Posted by: CS Nowik | July 2, 2009 4:51 PM
3/4 of the WaPo editorial section is right-wing lunatic fringe/neocon nutjobs.
Instead of becoming more enlightened in this age of the internet, facebook and twitter etc WaPo is doubling down on the stupid.
Posted by: Ralph Wiggum | July 2, 2009 5:14 PM
It makers one wonder what dubious means Woodward and Bernstein
used in order to get their story and make themselves wealthy.
Posted by: Paul | July 2, 2009 6:43 PM
Tip of the iceberg? How many other "news" media have cocktail parties etc. for access to politicians, pundits and lobbyists? I'm sure we'll never know.
Posted by: lochnesssmonster | July 2, 2009 7:12 PM
And if the Washigton Post is to be believed, the newspaper didn't know what was going on at--the Washington Post!
The Post explanation sounds a lot like Claude Rains's policeman in Casablanca ("I'm shocked, shocked, to find gambling at this place!"). But if you really believe that the Post doesn't know what's going on in their own office, why should you believe that the Post knows what's going on anywhere else?
Posted by: No Change | July 2, 2009 8:40 PM
Caesar's Wife caught running a cat house.
Posted by: ornery | July 3, 2009 12:09 AM
Thank you very much. I am wonderring if I can share your article in the bookmarks of society,Then more friends can talk about this problem.
Posted by: true religion jeans | July 3, 2009 4:25 AM
The Post should be required to run a disclaimer before every story so the average reader knows about this, therefore one can make an informed decision about the integrity and honesty of the story.
Mark, will the Swamp be offering a "salon", if so sign me up? Please give me advance notice so I can get the discounted airfare ticket to DC. Maybe hold it at the Watergate, a nostalgic setting would be nice!
Posted by: bubba Porter | July 3, 2009 6:44 AM
I don't understand what the problem is. The newspaper knew that these people where from Chicago where everything is for sale. Well, they should have known that this is the Chicago way,pay for play. When most of the cabinet are from Chicago and many had not paid their income tax, and the others are close associates of Mayor "shortshanks" all created by the Chicago combine.
Emmaunel has the ear of Mayor Daley and Obama and he tells Obama what the boys want. So why be surprised and what goes on.
Try investigating them for some real stories about "pay for play"
Posted by: Lou | July 3, 2009 10:11 AM
Maybe if WaPo actually did some real REPORTING with FACTS and stuff instead of repeating word for word what the GOP propaganda machine puts out, they wouldn't have to worry about these sort of embarrassing stories coming out.
Posted by: infants | November 9, 2009 12:26 AM