That’s what it looks like….
Via Politico:
For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to “those powerful few”: Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and — at first — 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 newsroom in an uproar after POLITICO reported the solicitation, Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli said this morning that he was “appalled” by the plan and said the newsroom will not participate.
“It suggests that access to Washington Post journalists was available for purchase,” Brauchli told The Post’s media reporter, Howard Kurtz. The proposal “promises we would suspend our usual skeptical questioning because it appears to offer, in exchange for sponsorships, the good name of The Washington Post.”
Earlier this morning, Brauchili said in a staffwide e-mail that the newsroom would not participate in the first of the planned events — a dinner scheduled July 21 at the home of Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Katharine Weymouth. Brauchli,was named on the flier as one of the “Hosts and Discussion Leaders.”
Um…. Cue the Music!
Notice how when the Newsroom found out about this; they were all like, “We are not involved!” Uh-huh, sure you all aren’t. Gives a whole new meaning to the word, “In the tank.” More like over the tank hank, if you know what I mean here.
Reactions are about equal across the Blogsophere:
Michelle Malkin is loving every second of it:
Ouch, stop, stop. Sides. Splitting.
Now as for Ed Morrissey; He is still trying to figure out what to call it:
A facilitator! That’s certainly more pleasant than “pimp”. I prefer the Night Shift term “love broker,” which reasonably applies between lobbyists and the White House — and for that matter, between the press and the White House, too.
Poor Ed. Someone could be selling crack outside his front door; and he still would never stop smiling and being kind to them. It’s that whole Catholic upbringing thing, and no, I do not mean that as an insult either. The man makes makes my sorry protestant self, look quite bad at times. 😳 Every Catholic I know, is just like that too. Scares the living bejeezes out of me. I mean, the world could be on the brink of nuclear annihilation; and Ed would still be there, holding his balloon and smiling. I can’t say I have not heard Ed get aggressive, I did once; Ed was on Mitch Berg’s Show once, and some idiot tried calling in to argue with Ed over something; and basically tried to call Ed a liar over something. Ed turned on the man, I had never seen him like that. It was quite amazing to behold. 😮
Anyhow, Ta-nehisi Coates is quite surprised, but gives the news guys the benefit of the doubt:
I genuinely believe that the newsroom staff could not have known that the marketing department was out promising lobbyists access to them in exchange for cash. I also have no idea why any White House officials would allow themselves to be used for such a purpose. If there aren’t already laws forbidding high-ranking officials from taking part in something like this, there should be.
Sister Toldjah Says:
But even though it’s not exactly surprising, that doesn’t make their latest attempt at cashing in on their pro-Obama bias any less distasteful. Hell, for that matter, the liberal McClatchy news outlet been working hard at making money on Obama’s election for months now via selling a book full of Obama glossies and articles taken and written on the campaign trail, as well as a DVD commemorating his “historic run.” Gee – no wonder they gave him such fawning coverage last year. Liberal bias + the need to raise $$=a complete loss of critical objectivity. Follow the money.
Quite true and if anyone’s looked at the New York Times as of late; they know that this is perfectly true. Talk about over the tank hank! 😮
Damn, even the DailyKos folks are not to impressed with this either!:
This comes at remarkable time for the Post, really, with columnist Dana Milbank just having whispered to the Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney that he was “such a d*ck” during their televised battle over newspaper versus blogger ethics.
Perhaps, for an extra ten grand, they’ll bring Milbank into the salon, to whisper to you that, “you’re such a rich d*ck.”
Heh… Too funny! 😆
Pandagon quips:
That’s the critical difference between blogs as media watchers and major media itself – as much as big media might like it, bloggers have neither the ability nor the desire to engage in the sort of ethical lapses that are available to outlets like the Washington Post every day. We may sit in our mothers’ basements watching torrented Thundercats episodes, but we do it honestly.
Uh, I haven’t watched Thundercats since I was like, uh, 14 years old? Also, Liberal Bloggers, Honest? Since when? Tell that to Sarah Palin, Please. 🙄
Even Reason Magazine is not amused. When the Capitalist Libertarians cry fowl, you know you are, uh, Screwed. 😛
Anyhow, the “Off the Record Solon’s” are now canceled. Seeing that the story was exposed. Paraphrasing a common line from the “Scooby Doo” show; “and I would have gotten away with it, if it were not for those meddling bloggers!”
Good job gents, all the way…around? 😛
