Washington Post
publisher: We blew it.
Axes get-togethers where lobbyists would pay big bucks
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jul 6, 2009
Katharine Graham’s Washington soirees are legendary, and so it’s perhaps not surprising that granddaughter Katharine Weymouth, herself now publisher of The Washington Post, would want to recreate them.
But she, and the paper, suffered a major embarrassment over the past few days, when details about the new so-called salons leaked out.
Unlike Graham’s parties, people were to pay to get into these, gaining exclusive access to Washington politicians and Post editors and reporters, according to a flier sent out by the paper’s marketing department a few weeks ago.
The prices were steep, at $25,000 for one salon and $250,000 for the series, to be held at Weymouth’s house with discussions led by Post editor Marcus Brauchli.
When Politico broke word of the plans late last week, the Post was assailed by columnists, bloggers and just about anyone else with an interest in unbiased journalism, generating headlines like “All The News That’s Fit To Pimp.”
In a note to readers published in yesterday’s paper, Weymouth apologized for any appearance that the Post was trying to profit from its access to Washington wheelers and dealers.
She claimed that the flier had been distributed without her approval or that of the newsroom.
“But let me be clear: The flier was not the only problem,” Weymouth wrote. “Our mistake was to suggest that we would hold and participate in an off-the-record dinner with journalists and power brokers paid for by a sponsor. We will not organize such events.”
The dinner has now been canceled, and while Weymouth said such an event could be held in the future, “we will review the guidelines for them with The Post's top editors and make sure those guidelines are strictly followed. Further, any conferences or similar events The Post sponsors will be on the record.”
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