Newspapers

• Howard Kurtz's 'salon' analysis is on the cover of the WaPo Style section.

• Charles Kaiser: The Washington Post: RIP

• MediaMemo by Peter Kafka: Washington Post: Our Reporters Aren't For Sale (Yet)

First on FishbowlDC: Internal memo from WaPo Publisher and CEO Katharine Weymouth below:

From: Katharine Weymouth Sent: 07/02/2009 02:45 PM EDT Subject: Message from the Publisher

All:

You will have seen this morning a story in Politico and now widely picked up that we were planning a series of salon dinners. A flyer went out that was prepared by the Marketing department and was never vetted by me or by the newsroom. Had it been, the flyer would have been immediately killed, because it completely misrepresented what we were trying to do.

I do not normally respond to stories but this one has created enough of a stir that I wanted to take the time to reaffirm our commitment, first and foremost, to our journalism and our integrity. There is nothing more important and no amount of money that would cause us to jeopardize that. We are always looking for new revenue streams but we will pursue only avenues that uphold our high standards of journalism.

We were planning to do a series of dinners and had requested newsroom
participation but with parameters such that we did not in any way
compromise our integrity. Sponsorship of events, like advertising in the newspaper, must be at arm's length and cannot imply control over the content or access to our journalists. At this juncture, we will not be holding the planned July dinner and we will not hold salon dinners involving the newsroom.

We do believe that there is a viable way to expand our expertise into live conferences and events that simply enhances what we do - cover Washington for Washingtonians and those interested in Washington. And we will begin to do live events in ways that enhance our reputation and in no way call into question our integrity.

Katharine

• WaPo publisher Katharine Weymouth responded to Politico's earlier 'salon' report in an interview with colleague Howard Kurtz. "Absolutely, I'm disappointed," she said. "This should never have happened. The fliers got out and weren't vetted. They didn't represent at all what we were attempting to do. We're not going to do any dinners that would impugn the integrity of the newsroom."

Kurtz additionally heard from executive editor Marcus Brauchli. "It suggests that access to Washington Post journalists was available for purchase," Brauchli said. The proposal "promises we would suspend our usual skeptical questioning because it appears to offer, in exchange for sponsorships, the good name of The Washington Post."

• WaPo ombudsman Andrew Alexander also weighed in, calling the paper's 'salon' plan a "public relations disaster." On Omblog, Alexander describes Politico's Mike Allen's reporting as accurate and he outlines the situation citing Brauchli and Charles Pelton, who he says "joined The Post recently to find ways to generate business through conferences and events." Alexander's blog post also includes feedback from angered and disppointed readers.

• The topic was also brought up in White House press secretary Robert Gibbs' daily briefing. He was asked if anyone from the administration had been invited to attend the WaPo 'salon' and what the White House's official policy was on such events. Check out his response via Politico video below:

In response to the day's hottest topic, Marcus Brauchli declared "newsroom independence" via an internal memo distributed only 30 minutes ago. We've got it. See below:

From: Marcus Brauchli Sent: 07/02/2009 10:33 AM EDT To: NEWS Subject: Newsroom Independence

Colleagues,

A flyer was distributed this week offering an "underwriting opportunity" for a dinner on health-care reform, in which the news department had been asked to participate.

The language in the flyer and the description of the event preclude our participation.

We will not participate in events where promises are made that in exchange for money The Post will offer access to newsroom personnel or will refrain from confrontational questioning. Our independence from advertisers or sponsors is inviolable.

There is a long tradition of news organizations hosting conferences and events, and we believe The Post, including the newsroom, can do these things in ways that are consistent with our values.

Marcus

This morning, Politico's Mike Allen reported that a flier distributed by The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to the Obama administration, members of Congress, and the paper's own reporters and editors.

The cost? A mere $25,000 - $250,000 will grant a few deep-pocketed sponsors an intimate dinner and discussion with key decision makers at the home of WaPo CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth. But wait, there's more...

According to Politico, the flier says:

"Bring your organization's CEO or executive director literally to the table. Interact with key Obama Administration and Congressional leaders."

WaPo was quick to respond to FishbowlDC's request for comment about the flier and event:

The flier circulated this morning came out of a business division for conferences and events, and the newsroom was unaware of such communication. It went out before it was properly vetted, and this draft does not represent what the company's vision for these dinners which are meant to be an independent, policy-oriented events for newsmakers.

As written, the newsroom could not participate in an event like this.

We do believe there is an opportunity to have a conferences and events business, and that The Post should be leading these conversations in Washington, big or small, while maintaining journalistic integrity. The newsroom will participate where appropriate.

We'll keep you updated as the story progresses.

WaPo launched "Gut Check" today, a new column by Ezra Klein, not in the A section, not on politics, but in the Food Section. According to the editor's note, it's a biweekly column of the "politics of food." We're intrigued, and hungry. Check out Klein's debut as a foodie here.

That's the question posed by Washingtonian mag this month, referring to WaPo's chief digital officer Vijay Ravindran. Funny, I thought we all agreed after the RTCA dinner that DC'ers were nerds...

Harry Jaffe reports Don Graham and WaPo are putting some of their last best hopes on Ravindran, the paper's first "chief digital officer."

Ravindran has been on the job four months, so it's too soon for a plan to save newspapering. But his installation in the Post Company's upper echelon is a sign of CEO Don Graham's willingness to experiment-and his desperation.

Ravindran was the force behind WaPo's recent launch on Facebook and he'll contine to work with Washingtonpost.com's Goli Sheikholeslami and Roger Andelin and Newsweek.com's Geoff Reiss to expand WaPo's online presence.

Read the rest of Jaffe's profile here.

With profits down by 60% after Q1 of 2009 and more than 10,000 layoffs between 2007-2008, Gannett is expected to make cuts of more than 1,000 in the next few days. These layoffs are expected to be made across Gannett's family of small local dailies known as the Community Publishing division. Also rumored are company-wide pay cuts. See the WSJ for more.

Three cases of swine flu have been reported at WaPo's headquarters at 15th and L St. Those three employees were asked to stay home for a week and the rest of the office has been instructed to use hand sanitizers and follow various simple precautions.

See WaPo's swine memo to staffers after the jump...

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Who doesn't enjoy a little good news now and then...

CQ editor Mike Riley has been working his team hard lately, but it certainly hasn't gone unnoticed. He took a moment today to thank his staff for their long hours, late nights and stakeouts.

I want to applaud our efforts on the night before last and salute those who were involved. Yes, it is an uncertain and anxious time at CQ, but the fact that these folks were focused fully on doing their work well reinforces the immense value we bring to our readers every day. And for that I am immensely grateful, as are our subscribers.

There's an excerpt; check out his full memo after the jump.

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