Politico reporter Mike Allen reported Thursday that a flier distributed this week said that The Washington Post was soliciting lobbyists to pay $25,000 to $250,000 for off-the-record access to members of Congress, White House officials and the Post‘s editors and reporters. Access would be given during “salons,” which were to be held at the home of Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth, according to the flier.
The controversy has a lot of people, including those at the Post, asking what went wrong.
Weymouth has since canceled plans for policy dinners at her home. Both she and Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli denied knowing about the flier and said it misrepresented what the paper was trying to do.
Bottom line, Brauchli told Politico, is that “you cannot buy access to a Washington Post journalist.” In a newsroom memo he confirmed that the Post “will not participate in events where promises are made … in exchange for money.”
Kris Coratti, a Post spokesperson, responded to Politico‘s story on Thursday, explaining:
Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander said that for a paper that values journalism ethics, the salon plan was pretty much a “public relations disaster.” Peter Kafka of “All Things Digital” has played devil’s advocate, posing the question: Why not have editorial staffers participate?
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs also weighed in on the situation, saying that to his knowledge, no one had accepted the salon invitation.
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