Washington Post cancels lobbyist event amid uproar

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "lynn" <lynn () ecgincc com>
Date: July 2, 2009 11:34:16 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Washington Post cancels lobbyist event amid uproar

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24441.html

Washington Post cancels lobbyist event amid uproar

Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was  
canceling
plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as  
$250,000,
the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record
access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members
of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a
health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist
said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as
the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."

With the Post newsroom in an uproar after POLITICO reported the
solicitation, Weymouth said in an email to the staff that "a flier went
out that was prepared by the Marketing department and was never vetted  
by
me or by the newsroom. Had it been, the flier would have been  
immediately
killed, because it completely misrepresented what we were trying to do."

Weymouth said the paper had planned a series of dinners with  
participation
from the newsroom “but with parameters such that we did not in any way
compromise our integrity. Sponsorship of events, like advertising in the
newspaper, must be at arm's length and cannot imply control over the
content or access to our journalists. At this juncture, we will not be
holding the planned July dinner and we will not hold salon dinners
involving the newsroom. “

She made it clear however, that The Post, which lost $19.5 million in  
the
first quarter, sees bringing together Washington figures as a future
revenue source. “We do believe that there is a viable way to expand our
expertise into live conferences and events that simply enhances what  
we do
- cover Washington for Washingtonians and those interested in  
Washington,”
she said. “ And we will begin to do live events in ways that enhance our
reputation and in no way call into question our integrity.”







-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com