So the Washington Post has an Ombudsman, someone whose job it is (or at least I thought so) to hold the spotlight up to the paper and raise issues where its reporting or objectivity might have been compromised. This morning's column though, calls out DC Public Schools Chief Michelle Rhee for the (apparently) unforgivable sin of not talking with the Post reporter assigned to cover the DC schools. Wrapped self-righteously in the mantle of the "public's need to know" and the "hometown" nature of the Post's coverage, little is made of exactly what it is that Rhee had objected to in the first place about reporter Bill Turque's coverage.
Putting aside for a moment that Rhee might be acting a bit pettily in this case, one has to wonder just who it was that died and made the Washington Post boss? If Michelle Rhee doesn't want to talk to a reporter, that is her CHOICE. She is under NO obligation to talk to the Post and especially to someone with whom she has a beef.
It appears as though Mr. Torque might have to resort to desperate measures in his quest for the "DC Schools" story. He's actually going to have to "report".
Turque, who acknowledged that The Post has corrected a few "minor" errors, said the snub "seems personal."
ReplyDeleteI always love how, usually on some obscure back page sandwiched between mind-numbing articles about how some recently-departed criminal was just starting to get his life in order, the Post and their ilk "correct minor errors" that were emblazoned in bold print as a headline the day before: "Yesterday's article reporting on regional conservative bloggers erroneously reported that The Conservative Wahoo had endorsed Dana Milbank as an insightful writer with a particular flair for sane, common-sense reporting. We also wish to correct the record regarding an earlier report that the blog's author "had a case of the crabs". The article should have read "had a bushel of crabs". The Washington Post regrets the error.
I just love "journalists". They're...well, "special".
I suggest that you read a few articles by turque before passing judgment. They are extremely fair. I think Rhee only wants flattery from press - which she gets plenty of from the editorial side of the Post and the national media.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Turque is doing just fine reporting on the schools without talking to Rhee. He gets a lot of information by attending public meetings where she speaks and by following the DCPS website.
Anon---then why all the whining from the Post?
ReplyDeleteIt's not whining -- it's reporting. The Post is reporting that a public official refuses to speak with a Post reporter.
ReplyDeleteThat's news.