Washington Post ombud Andy Alexander devoted his August 22 piece to lauding how the paper handles storiesabout its parent company and itsvarious business entanglements–which, as he explains, are rather extensive. The Washington Post Co. owns Newsweek, several television stations, and the Kaplan company, which runs the for-profit Kaplan University,the subject of recent critical media reports.
As Alexander put it:
The list of Washington Post Co. holdings and interests is extensive, and the relationships are complex. Whenever a news story discusses investment giant Berkshire Hathaway or its chief executive, Warren E. Buffett, it must note that he is a Post Co. board member. Likewise, stories about Facebook must mention that its board includes Post Co. chairman and chief executive Donald E. Graham. Any story about LivingSocial, the consumer-oriented social networking site run by Tim O’Shaughnessy, must disclose that he is Graham’s son-in-law.
How have the Post‘s editors and reporters been able to keep track ofthese conflicts? Alexander explained that
The Post‘s newsroom intranet added a list of holdings by the parent Washington Post Co., along with the names and primary business affiliations of its directors. The instructions are clear: “When we write about something that could impact, positively or negatively, one of those interests, we should be as transparent as possible about disclosing those relationships.”
At the start of the piece, Alexander wrote, “I regularly hear from readers deeply suspicious that The Post has concealed a self-interest.” Given the array of Post conflicts, that is understandable. So in the interest of disclosure, why not make the Post‘s newsroom list of holdings and board affiliationspublic?
“So in the interest of disclosure, why not make the Post’s newsroom list of holdings and board affiliations public?”
Peter, given the Post’s dedication to the principle of “What you don’t know can’t hurt us”, that would be a true conflict of interest, wouldn’t it?
I would like it to be an automatic disclosure. We need to know, unlike people, no organization should have that kind of right to privacy. A balance with personal privacy is important but no organization is a person or should be treated as such.
WAPO is not fit to be used to wrap fish!
Fellow posters: Do not, under any circumstances, respond to the numbskull who calls himself michael e. Be strong. That is all.
In the past,and even today- I have mocked and belittled TIM N.But in retrospect and after some thought I now see it as a mistake.He has a right to personally curb others freedom of speech/thought by ignoring all opposing ideas- and to ask others to do the same.We live in an amazing exeptional country.And he is a part of that too