PressEthic

A column by Michael Getler in the Washington Post reveals two flagrant instances where commercial imperatives have overridden ethical journalism at The Post. These breaches of The Washington Post's responsibility to the public are so blatant, it is impossible to fathom how editors and managers possibly managed to justify them in the first place.

Two weekends ago The Washington Post sold two extra pages of advertising over its 96 page limit. In order to accommodate their obligation to the advertisers, the newspaper dropped two pages of obituaries. This prompted fervent public outcry. A source in Getler's column points out that prioritizing advertising over death notices is incredibly insensitive. I’m stunned that this didn’t occur to those responsible for the decision. A newspaper's responsibility to minimize harm was overlooked in a most brazen fashion.

Furthermore in mid-August The Washington Post revealed that it intended to co-sponsor the Pentagon’s Sept. 11 “Freedom Walk” (due to public admonishment it did not). It took phone calls from a number of readers to point out the obvious; a paper striving for objectivity can’t support a government organized political event. As Getler says this would be tantamount to supporting their politics. This sponsorship would have been a blatantly undermined the newspaper’s independence. Again how this did not occur to newspaper management is beyond me.

In fairness, the newspaper was transparent about its errors of judgment. After calls came in, stories were written on both instances. However the concern is that management did not realize these decisions were obvious breaches of journalistic standards.

Both of these instances are blatant examples of a paper succumbing to commercial pressure. This enormity of this pressure is becoming increasinly apparent. For instnace in his post, Where Will I Get a Job?, Joseph Michener reveals the huge number of job cuts in the newspaper industry in the last week. Irrespective of the pressure, these recent transgressions at the Washington Post are extremely disturbing because they went undetected by newspaper management. It is almost as if, under the pressure of commercial forces, management are ‘turning a blind eye’ and trying to see what they can get away with.