The Atlantic - Latest Comments in WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

Josh Jasper — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:12:16 -0000

Well, yeah, but in reporting on scandalous behavior one's employer might be engaging in too, there's a potential for a double standard.

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

anna perez — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:23:59 -0000

None of us should be shocked that folks are "gambling" in "Casablanca." And in the media/political bazaar, the currency is access.

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

Josh Jasper — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:43:46 -0000

News from Talking Points Memo is that The Atlantic has been doing this sort of thing too. I'd be interested to see if what The Atlantic has been doing is substantially difference than what the Washington Post got called out for.

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

anna perez — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:22:53 -0000

As a former long time vendor (flacking for a US Senator, Congressman and both Bush admins.) in the DC media bazaar, I can tell you that this misbegotten scheme is a distinction with as many as 250,000 differences. Though her grandmother, Katherine Graham, hosted many a "salon" for the "exclusive few" (so did Ben Bradlee and other media big wigs for time immemorial) Ms. Weymouth's schedule of entrance fees is a huge embarrassment for Posties. And as big as the dollar amounts are, did she really think the "Washington Post's" reputation and credibility was only worth less than $3 million a year?

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

albatross — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:14:34 -0000

Is it that the media are much worse (more corrupt, less careful, more dishonest) now than in the past? Or is it just that with the internet, more people are watching? For example, I kind of suspect that 20 years ago, we'd never have heard the rest of the story on that NYT deadbeat who abandoned his wife for another married woman that wrote the book on his bankruptcy, or on the 60 Minutes document fraud thing against Bush. I kind of suspect the torture scandal and telecom immunity votes would have been much less reported in the world of 20 years ago, too. But I don't really know that.

Is the sausage factory yuckier now, or are we just getting a better look at how it works now?

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

Juba — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:58:18 -0000

Well I have to say, when I enter arguments about whether blogging can take over for traditional newspaper and magazine outlets as our source for information and journalism, shenanigans like these make those papers hard to defend.

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

xochi — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:46:29 -0000

I blame the blogosphere. Sometimes they use cusswords!

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

Persia — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:35:47 -0000

The twitterers are having a field day.

With good reason, mind you.

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

MAJeff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:11:48 -0000

But frankly, the paper is now a pretty transparent mouthpiece for far-right, corporate-state propaganda,

The Op-Ed page is approaching WSJ-levels of insanity.

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

Picador — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:16:07 -0000

I wish I could say I'm surprised at how low the Post has sunk. But frankly, the paper is now a pretty transparent mouthpiece for far-right, corporate-state propaganda, so this further merger of private business interests and government elites with the press is consistent with their ideology as a paper.

I'd like to tell my parents to cancel their subscription at the very least, but I know they need a daily paper, and what are the alternatives in DC? It's not like the Times is an improvement.

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

dragnet — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:01:30 -0000

Yeah just saw this over at TalkingPointsMemo. I think its fitting that this devastating evidence of the Washington Post's decay emerges so soon after the firing of the only honest man they had on staff.

The really should merge with Washington Times and just get it over with already.

Re: WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists

Jamilah — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:46:28 -0000

WaPo is no stranger to pay to play politics. Wasn't it a year or so back we found out David Broder was getting paid by entities who he would then write articles about. I somewhat recall him claiming that he didn't see anything wrong with what he was doing.