Post Sells Access to Officials, Reporters

(NEWSER) - As they wipe the egg off their face, Washington Post executives are probably wondering why they got slammed so badly for selling access to Washington bigwigs and Post reporters at "salons" at the publisher's home. At least two other news organizations—the Wall Street Journal and the Economist—are doing much the same thing, Politico reports. More»

'Overzealous marketing execs' pushed fliers, paper says

(NEWSER) - Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth today nixed the “salons” aimed to sell lobbyists access to off-the-record gatherings of administration officials, members of Congress, and Post journalists, the paper reports. “This should never have happened," said Weymouth. Fliers advertising the meetings "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.” More»

Calling a lie a 'lie' isn't the same as 'taking sides': Glenn Greenwald

(NEWSER) - Anderson Cooper has been using the word “lie” a lot in recent days while describing statements made by Mubarak and his regime. Despite the fact that the statements he’s describing are “factually false,” his liberal use of the word “lie” has gotten Cooper mocked and questioned by fellow journalists, writes Glenn Greenwald on Salon . Those critics have ultimately acknowledged that the statements he’s calling “lies” are, in fact, lies—but even so, they question Cooper’s “opinion-making” and wonder whether or not he should be “taking sides.” More»

David Weigel, ousted for bashing Matt Drudge, speaks out

(NEWSER) - When he got the call asking him to comment on yet more emails he had written—this time bashing Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich—David Weigel knew he was screwed. The Washington Post blogger had already apologized for leaked emails in which he said Matt Drudge ought to light himself on fire. Now he was being asked if he hated conservatives. It had “a physical impact,” Weigel writes for Esquire . “I instantly realized that I was no longer a reporter—and had become an Embattled Reporter.” More»

Obama must start following through on campaign promises

(NEWSER) - Risking his wife's wrath, Clarence Page has to admit he agrees with Sean Hannity. The Fox News host has correctly called President Obama on the disconnect between campaign rhetoric and the attempted boycott of Hannity's employer. "It is disingenuous for right-wing pundits to accuse Obama of dividing the country, considering the five-star job they have done in turning us against each other," Page writes. "But if Obama is being judged by a different standard of civility, it is a standard he set for himself." More»