Washington Post Rethinks Plan to Sell Access to the Powerful
Bonnie Goldstein
Woman Up Editor
Posted:
07/2/09
The Washington Post parent corporation's plan to solicit participants who would be charged between $25,000 and $250,000 for intimate gatherings attended by "Obama administration officials, members of Congress and Post journalists" is cancelled, Howie Kurtz, the paper's media reporter, writes.
A very bad idea (just asking, but what were they smoking?) has been nipped in the bud as embarrassed Post executives regroup, presumably returning to a Post policy described on the paper's community relations page: "Can a Post writer, editor or other person speak at my event?" "Yes. Post staffers are available to speak without charge on a variety of topics to civic, school, business and church groups."
After Politico reported Thursday morning about fliers advertising valuable networking opportunities for "off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth," Post editor Marcus Brauchli circulated a memo: It said, "We will not participate in events where promises are made that in exchange for money The Post will offer access to newsroom personnel or will refrain from confrontational questioning. Our independence from advertisers or sponsors is inviolable."
Regarding the ill-advised plan to charge high rollers for access, Weymouth stated, "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."
Kurtz reported the unvetted promotional material was being distributed and overseen by Charles Pelton, a Post administrative hire brought on this year as a "conference organizer," who, he added, "was not immediately available for comment."